Or could I 3 properties flow into one account and pay all expenses from there.  

Go to your favorite search engine (e.g. google.com) and type in "North Carolina 10 day notice" and you will get a ton of responses.

Find out what rate rents are increasing and expenses are increasing in your area and use that in your underwriting, then work out each year of ownership. 5% rate in 5 years seems ambitious.

I know, I know, I've been out of the loop for waaaay too long.  

So many things wrong with all this.First don't pay for this.

If you have narrowed down an area you like research the heck out of it. 

Quote from @Jairo Montezuma: Agreed with the above, your problem will come when you need to get someone out there on a Saturday morning around 6 am and you are three thousand miles away on vacation.

Wait, I get it, their online reputation will be enough of a guarantee for you!

Do the cold calling yourself and that is where the true magic is as you can see with @Peter Tverdov success at doing it and getting a ton of money out of those conversations. 

But if this is a one-off, it's probably better to pay a local co-host who already has the local connections.Talk to @J.