Originally I was looking at a cash out refi to pull extra cash for other projects.

Personally, I favor the STR route due to the extra cashflow, but it's easier when you're local and can self manage.

So we had to bring extra cash to the closing.

The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it.We have a 12 page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

Unfortunately it's an extra $40/set per month! 

If you can really get 1800/month (400 extra a month is ~$5k in extra cashflow) - which is amazing...however if you don't end up with a long term tenant, that $5k shrinks a bit.  

You also have a responsibility to try to rent it out as soon as possible if you are going after damages ie you can’t just wait for a few months to rent out so you can charge extra damages.

Well a couple weeks later, things started happening small things, leaks and it stopped working, and I brought an extra refrigerator for the tenants to use during the fix.

Our current home is provided by the company I work for, so no extra income there.

As far as make or break, if you run your rental well in my area I think most folks do pretty good, because we have just about year round demand in this area, but to do REALLY well, you need the extra stuff I mentioned.