I'd say it all depends on your timeline and personal risk/reward ratio.

, and for a realtor to have a reliable buyer seems reward enough.  

After listening (and continuing to listen) to numerous podcasts, and watching several webinars, I decided to upgrade to PRO membership. 

I have never had to do a cash call on any deal we have syndicated, knock on wood, which says a lot considering we only do big value add deals, very risky stuff, but rewarding. 

The investor side of me agrees in totality with all said about time vs reward and good money at bad.  

If all things are pretty equal you likely should look to your own stomping grounds where you live for a smaller property like this.If you are worth say 2 million and you are buying 10 doors at 50k for 500k and putting 150k down then if it goes bad you might have a small loss and tax write off to get out.If you are worth 400k and putting down 150k into an area you do not know that well with not enough doors to get passive then the risk does not likely equal the reward upside.

With our large inventory of 750+ homes, we have numerous "Package" deals. 

There are numerous reasons why this should be the only option, outside of the friends/family discount.

However I would think that the property management route is the most simple to learn and probably the least financially rewarding.  

They were all small incl. interest, capital gains, rewards, rebates, incentives, etc.