It takes longer than expected when doing most of the renovation yourself.

@Rafael Valdor some advice when screening PMCs-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

The real estate investing industry uses "Classes" to rank property performance risk, but there's NO agreed upon industry model:(Here's what we use for our Metro Detroit market:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Fix it.We eliminate as much landscaping as possible: we take out flower beds and most decorative features, ideally, lawn mowing is the only job tenants have to do, because we know that's all we can expect from most.

Expect any step needs to play well w/1031.

I expect 30% turnover in a given year, but have seen it surge as high as 48%.

Ultimately, clear communication and expectations handled in a respectful manner can avert any issue.

Ideally you would want to transfer the funds you expect to use for the purchase to your new entity for your records to create the separation from personal to business. 

W2 and 1099 income, 2 kids, renting, and 1 rental.At what point does it make sense to hire tax help and how much should that expect to pay?

The fresh perspective from someone outside of my network is crucial, that way my expectations can be closer to reality if I decide to reach out to new contacts for this opportunity.