Looking for help renting my house

[WDELTA]

If everything goes well I'll be separating from the Air Force and going to do contract work in Afghanistan within the next few months. (I already have a job offer, just waiting for the Air Force to let me go).

Anyways, I own a home that I don't really want to sell yet so I'm planning on finding a rental management company to handle everything for me. Do any of you have advice for what I should be looking for in the management company as far as fees, services, etc.?

[snafu]

Finding a reliable, cost efficient rental manager for one house is difficult. Do you have anyone reliable, trustworthy and able to make decisions within your network, in that area who would do the job for the length of your out of country contract? Can your bank or community leader you respect offer a list or put you in touch? If you must select an 'unknown' be sure to check with BBB, have a lawyer review the contract and CC lawyer to ensure manager understands there is legal oversight...sort of.

Could you rent to a family within the airforce community? Rent deposits as transfers so that you can see each transaction so long as you have access to internet. We included utilities and yard care in our rental agreements to eliminate potential for those problems. A trusted neighbour had a list of tradesmen to call for problems and we could transfer funds to cover expenditures on our behalf.

For us a major issue was insurance becomes invalid if the house is empty more than a set number of weeks; insurance included rental function. House was rented furnished but the tenant was welcome to move un-needed items to unfinished space in the back half of basement. We stored personal stuff in bins from floor to ceiling and the lease agreement clearly specified the area and sq footage not included in rental agreement.