For self management I think this type of software is a must have! 

Also, there are a lot of great softwares out there that basically take care of what property managers do, so you could look into that instead.10% vacancy: In my market, 5% vacancy is plenty, this is something that you will need to figure out for your particular market.

If self-managing, there are plenty of softwares out there i.e.

Airbnb, Furnished Finder, BP (to learn), all the various PM software, etc. 

I have a call set up with our rep with VRBO as our system is integrated in our PM software so we have always had some different rules. 

Hey @Chris Schneider - besides what everyone else has already mentioned, I also recommend trying out a power-dialer software that will help automate your own cold calling strategies. 

Buy or inherit and hold all their lives while working the properties for income.I've seen teachers, firemen, software engineers and all sorts of people utilize both strategies successfully.

I have seen they have been pushing RentRedi a lot on the podcasts lately and I fell victim to their marketing tactics and checked them out.They seem to have fairly reasonable plans ($9/month for year plan) and offer a variety of features but I am still confused why someone would pay for property management software when there are so many free alternatives out there. 

BTW, been doing software development for ~30 years. 

It's a good place to learn more about servicing software and meet vendors, too.