[tmaly]

When I have a side project, and I need remote developer, communication skills are the number one skill I look at. Secondly, I look to see if they can code according to a technical specification.

There have been countless times where I have had to spend excess time going back and forth due to lack of these two skills.

Your situation might be a little different if your employer is not someone who can write technical specifications. If this is the case, I would say the skill of translating the customers requirements into a specification would be an important skill.