The Fed's objective will change, and it did. 

Remember, no system is perfect, so avoid the temptation of constantly chasing after the next shiny object.

Anything you do is fine since the objective is not higher return.  

A better approach might be to find a REI Association in the area(s) and ask other investors for their recommendations - it's not uncommon to choose a different appraiser depending on the type of property (residential vs commercial MFH vs. office or industrial) and the objective of the appraisal.

It also tracks who is in what house and all other resident info I might need, and is absolutely vital to our operation.Each of our houses has a live-in manager who, for free rent, ensures all residents are following a strict set of rules and guidelines that is enforced quantitatively with a points system to ensure objectivity and uniformity between managers and houses.  

It seems your objectives are to save on taxes and protect yourself....but none of what you propose accomplishes either of those objectives.  

Keep in mind they will also spend far more time raising capital and diverting their attention outside of managing the investment which is adverse to your objectives.  

Even though pricing was a lot less expensive back then, you hear the same objection as you do today: Where do I get the money for the downpayment?

I see story after story of people being upside down and having to sell at a loss because they chased the shiny object without enough due diligence. 

There's a whole section in the course about trials, sequence of events of the trial, how to get evidence entered into the record, when and where and how to object to errors...everything that is relevant to any case, civil or criminal is in there.