first-time rental from out-of-state

[Vivien H.]

Hi everyone, 

I am a new out-of-state investor and I'm currently diving into the management and rental of our property. We just recently bought our first Duplex in Nashville and just listed both units on Zillow and will also list on Facebook marketplace within the next days. 
After only a few days we received the first messages via Zillow Rental Manager from people who asked to see the units. 
I did reply through Zillow Rental Manager, but haven't heard back from them since. 
My questions are:
Is Zillow Rental Manager a good tool to communicate with potential tenants? What would be a good alternative for an applicant to get in touch with me if not through the Zillow portal? 
Like I mentioned, I am new in the game and would love to hear from experienced investors and property managers how they handle things, especially if they live out-of-state.
Thanks in advance. Every tip and every piece of advice is much appreciated.
Vivien

[Jaron Walling]

@Vivien H. How much experience do you have and are you self managing the property?

If you're leveraging Zillow to manage your rental from OOS don't do it. Zillow is good for the initial contact with prospective tenants, but beyond that we don't use it. Prospective tenants need to jump a hurdle or two, pay for a none refundable background check, and set up an account with PM software. You can do that by leveraging other systems like Innago, Buildium, TurboTenant, or Propertyware. They each have pros and cons. We're using Innago and have no complaints. 

If this stuff feels overwhelming I encourage you to speak with a few local PM companies.