Looking for insight on multiple-owned property investments

[LaCroix Rockwell]

Hello all!  I'm a bit of a newbie as I begin exploring options on several owned rental properties and thought I'd reach out to the BP community for some insight/advice.

My father invested in real estate during his retirement and currently owns six rental properties (3-flats) throughout Chicago - one of them I am personally managing and he manages the rest.  While he likes to tend to the properties himself to keep active and busy, he is beginning the process of bestowing the properties to me and my brother as he would like to focus on his health.  With that said, I recently gotten married and currently shopping for a new home for my wife and I, so I'm a bit worried about stretching myself too thin with these multiple properties as I begin a family of my own in the next few years.  

I'm just throwing this out there in hopes that someone more well-versed in real estate would have another view on the situation but stating the obvious: it looks like hiring a property manager makes the most sense correct?  Should I consolidate assets into a different real estate investment to streamline incoming revenue?  I would like to be an active, engaged landlord like my father and tend to the properties often to up-keep but I'm just not seeing it.  As for my brother, he's a bit older, and settled with a family much further away in the south suburbs - I can't rely on him to help streamline this operation.  

Thanks in advance!