The horror stories are many but it's best to allow someone to get spanked financially because they learn better from their mistakes than from the mistakes of others. 

I will add that this is a process that has many rules that are required to be followed and there are serious financial penalties if you make a mistake. do your research and learn all you can and/or find a custodian who provides education as well as an ERISA attorney who can advise you. 

To proceed without assistance in this matter would be a huge mistake.

I think it's a mistake to start PM from scratch on your own.

I realize that I made mistakes, in hind-sight, in working with him.

@Bunmi JooRecommend 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.

Now I am looking back, hiring them was a big mistake, letting them go was a hard, but very Right choice I made in that circumstance.  

If you want to live off of rentals, bust *** and get it done.Credit to you for doing all that, but make no mistake about it. 

Focus on making course corrections on your early mistakes fast and moving on or problem solving. 3.) 

Does anyone have any advice for a beginner on just amateur mistakes, things to look out for etc?