In my mind, the purpose of the trip would be to a) drive the neighborhoods I am considering to understand them better/identify better/worser pockets etc and b) meet people I am planning to work with (realtor, contractor, PM) in person to solidify those relationship.

You can go and do a drive by of the property.  

Maybe communicating it more will help, but you cannot make people read.As a guest I would find making my own bed especially after a long drive or flight would be annoying. 

I would assume areas where there are higher price to rent ratios, there may be more rental properties on the market, driving rental prices down.  

We also have an increasing number of owners filing claims for roofs thinking they can get a free roof without realizing it's driving up insurance premiums.

You're like someone who honks at a car for driving the speed limit and then looking away when they pull up to next you at a stoplight.  

It protects it from outside liability (let's say you drive recklessly and kill someone, and your personal car insurance gets exhausted, the suing parties cannot come after the rental property because it is not personally owned by you). 

Its a central point between Atlanta and Knoxville, Atlanta and Nashville, Within a 5-7 hr drive to a handful of coastal beaches, and a great place to open a place of residency for someone. 

After digging around I've come to the conclusion that for a small team with a small amount of properties you simply can't beat a free solution like Google Drive with Google sheets, docs.

Homes that appeal to our target tenant segment range from $320,000 to $475,000, so the supply of housing we target remains almost the same regardless of how many new homes are built.DemandPopulation growth drives housing demand.