A transactional agent is best for exactly that, the transaction, how to in contract negotiations, how to get under contract, get best deal in contract and sometimes how to dig up and create a purchase potential or how to best sell. if you want to know about operational wise, speak to those in the operations side of things.  

I would be inclined to not hold on to a cash flow negative property, I see our costs only going up. 

Generally speaking, on the west coast,  tenant protections increase on month-month contracts.

Check with the housing office on base.If the property is negative cash flow, then you need to decide if that still makes sense.

But out west here generally speaking surface mining on a small parcel simply will not be allowed in the current zoning code.. 

You should speak with your accountant first to make sure a cost segregation will benefit you.

It's much easier to rack up  material hours if you are nearby and able to take on some of the timely hands-on work yourself.I imagine that others have tried to do this while OOS investing but I couldn't speak to their success (or lack thereof)

There are a lot of misconceptions about the protections afforded by the LLC, so speak with an attorney.

If you're not speaking to His need, you'll miss the mark every time.

I see this is posted in the house-hack forum so I'll make the assumption that you want to owner-occupy your next investment.To work more hands-on, you'll want to spend time searching for deals, analyzing deals, and networking/building a team.Before your property search, I'd recommend speaking with a lender to find out how much you'll qualify for.