Ask them what needs to be done to each unit when you personally go and speak with each tenant or have a list of questions drawn up for your new PM to ask each tenant I.E. what can we change that would make things better, if you had a nicer unit would you be willing to pay more, if I do these upgrades will you resign a new lease or pay more, things of that nature.

I suppose it depends on the quality and nature of the direct mailing.What sort of "hit" percentage can one expect from this method?

By definition, you're hands off ... and that means you won't naturally learn and put yourself in a position to be exposed to more, bigger things.  

This community and website are an incredible resource for REI, knowledge and networking, although naturally more focused on the US market.

Found it via a wholesale broker.The extra bedroom isn't going to look completely natural, but there are not many 4 bed houses that are comparable to this one.

Naturally, I must set the deals up to start with!

Our property is zoned as multi-use so I have the idea of using it/getting it classified as a "boutique hotel" and renting out the rooms in the house.With this type of classification I'm assuming the taxes would be higher, etc for this use, insurance would be of a more commercial nature, etc.So should I try to setup the property as an LLC (to insulate it's operation from us legally)?

I inquired with the broker in regards to the nature of the vacancy of these units and he replied that they are "hard" down units. 

We have an active Chinese investor group here in sf, better if you are on wechat.

We worked it out with the electric company, but it has cost me nearly $2000 to install meters and properly ground the electrical system.The property was never connect to natural gas, causing our tenants to live without hot water.