You can leverage your equity in a more intelligent manner and not be forced to lower your standard of living in my opinion. 

Portfolio lenders tend to have easier underwriting standards, especially since this is an investment.  

I can refi into the same loan after 6 months.My question is if this is pretty standard for a property I won't be living in?

No offense, but they are typically low-quality renters making low wages and low standards.

We agreed on the price, numbers worked, I sent him standard 1 page agreement, and he hadn't called me for a week.

You do have to make sure the propoerty meets certain standards and the inspection can be a small Pain.....but it's been more than worth it to me for the ones that I have rented on GoSection8 

What I need: qualities, courtesies, gestures you appreciate in your dream contractor so I can include them in my SOP's (standard operating procedures) to be distributed to our employees.Thanks!

Have one lined up (so you talk to them and are comfortable with them) before you see the house.If you are interested in the house, have the attorney review the agreement of sale before you sign it (yes, even though it is a standard doc, the attorney will make sure you understand what you are giving away by checking those boxes.Easy deals should be ~$500, complex ones are more, this is something you should talk to the lawyer about,

I do think the practice has its positive points and can be very helpful in certain situations but it can be harmful when someone does not abide by ethical standards..... 

Also, keep in mind that the NJ standard for move out is "broom clean" which as far as I can tell is an uninformative and nearly meaningless term that gives you no information about removing grime from the kitchen bathrooms, cabinets and refrigerator.