Having local family gave me a built-in support system, market familiarity, and the confidence to manage a property from a distance if needed.

I have some clients who prefer to have a PM for maintenance/contact/rent collection/general management and will place tenants and write leases for themselves in exchange for a reduced rate.  

I have five houses in Memphis area, and the biggest problem has been finding a good property management company. 

@Patrick Drury what did you think of Propertyware and Rent Manager?

I would try and manage it yourself if you have the time and effort. 

. - PM provides a cash based accounting report every month, for every unit under management, that clearly labels all rent, all expenses, including management fees, and the net directly ties to the amount of money deposited into my bank account.- PM is a licensed handyman, or has them on staff, and takes care of most unit turn work at a reasonable rate. - PM has no breakup/termination fee- PM does not take project management fees, except on large or complicated CapEx projects exceeding $5,000. 

Typically corporate/bank owned homes are managed by an asset management company.

Their pro formas felt optimistic with providing 6% annual appreciation and property management that is only about 6% of rent so I take it with a grain of salt (they offer their own property management services but it has terrible reviews on Yelp so I would probably go with someone else). 

My wife and I come from a manufacturing leadership and project management background.

Do managers that advertise 8% only do 8% when there's a bundle of doors to manage?