So for example a $550k 3/2 home will produce $55-65k in gross rents.

I got voodoo'd by this on the very last house I bought, where I am *certain* the bank would have come down another $2k but the selling agent magically produced another offer that was going to come up $1k from the bank's offer in order to "entice" me to take the bank's "final" offer.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great VAs out there, but you have to find them, train them, monitor them and pay them well for them to produce anything above mediocre results. 

If you plan to originate and sell, to get yields into fair market territory, you'll be discounting your paper, meaning that your margin on the home will need to be high enough to absorb the discount and still produce a better return than just outsourcing the lending process.

Is there an easy way to track natural appreciation?

You picked the wrong kind of property to start in as a 3/3.1 townhouse is not ideal for room hacking and is more residential in nature which is why you should sell it and take the proceeds and deposit money and look for a two-family where you and your brother can live in one side and you can full rent the other side - maybe even as a mid-term rental to 2x the rent.

Cousin A used to have an income-producing property.

I definitely have some insight on what type of large markets to invest in that are metro in nature that attract not only business travel but also have multiple industries as to keep the overall investing strategy strong.

It speaks for the humble nature of locals that they are happy.

Like the previous monthly reports, the market typically reacts to numbers in comparison to estimates.Producer Price Index (PPI)The Producer Price Index (PPI) report is similar to CPI; however, it tracks costs (and inflation) for producers, such as product manufacturers or service suppliers.