From a mom and pop investor prospective doing this OOS would be a nightmare.

You need to get actual rental data, local comps from the last 30 days, and get information on the future job prospects and long-term municipal and business investments in any area. 

There are several apps you can use to help you get contact information, as well as templates for letters you can use in prospecting.

Development and rehabbing is hard work, I want to put in the time where there's barriers and know my hard work means I am getting great prospects requesting showings the day I list my properties on Zillow because there's limited supply.Operationally,  when tenants have requests that aren't emergencies, I still take care of them because at the end of the day they are rounding errors in my operation and in return my tenants (almost all of which are qualified to buy nice homes, those who aren't are recent college grads) treat my properties like a home and we communicate and get along great.

I would probably approach it by finding a place(s) where I wanted to live and work that has multifamily properties with a good rent prospect and opportunity for appreciation. 

I've looked into Cleveland in the past but the declining population growth has deterred me from looking any further.

My advice is if you find a STR home prospect, to not put all your eggs in that basket and make sure it pens out as at least a MTR as well. 

Peace of mind knowing that maintenance, both preventative and emergency maintenance are taken care of.Questions to ask your prospective PM are what is your fair housing training besides the CE credits for your RE license, what certificates do you hold, how much experience do you have, what is you maintenance crew like (what kind of experience, how many, after hours?)

Hi, We have been considering using Codebox type lockboxes for self showings but have been concerned about prospective tenants or vendors not putting the keys back in the lockbox.

@Matt Meyer - If I understand you correctly, a prospective tenant will need to submit an application, have their credit pulled and provide proof of income - before they can even tour the property to learn if it really even works for their needs?