Self-managed a long term (1 year lease) rental property remotely for 4 years, family worked in short-term rentals so I have some experience of that market too.

Self-managed a long term (1 year lease) rental property remotely for 4 years, family worked in short-term rentals so I have some experience of that market too. Main problem was peace of mind, knowing that tenants were there & not causing issues. Had a friend in the local area drive by every so often to make sure the place was in good condition. Let one do their own gardening, they let the place get run down so in the end mandated lawn/pool service for the tenants. The gardener was good at alerting us to issues. Tenant changeover was hard and usually necessitated a flight down for a week or two to show the property (to a pre-arranged appointment list) and ensure move-in/move-out went smoothly. Co-ordination was difficult sometimes (tenant reports an issue, get vendors out to triple-bid repairs, arrange for tenant to be there to let in vendors both during bidding and doing the work). Ongoing maintenance issues (the pool constantly leaked) were difficult to evaluate properly & had to trust our contractors. Considered a property management firm but at 10% of the gross rent (and fees to find/place new tenants) on a property we were not cashflowing on we chose to manage it ourselves and it worked out alright. Short term I'd definitely want a local agent, too much to go wrong.