We self manage and we've had 0% vacancy, <1% late payment, all occupied at market rents.

did they have you fill out a notarized affidavit that said you were self performing the work?

I can not express how significant the SKILLS OF NETWORKING & GENUINE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING have been in my real estate journey. 

We self managed the entire time, even remotely, because we found the cost of property management to be too high and it cut into small profits.

My goal is to purchase a small multi-family property with an FHA loan that I can self-manage while retaining my day job as a software engineer.I have been causally reading books, listening to podcasts, and self-educating on personal finance and different asset classes for the last 2 years before finally deciding on real estate; but I still feel like I do not know enough to go at it alone.

Armando - A few questions I would ask are:- I've seen banks typically use 5% for vacancy factor- Are you self-managing?

However, it adds complexity with more paperwork and potential self-employment taxes on all the income.Doing it as an individual is simpler, with everything going on your personal tax return, and you might benefit from the home sale exclusion if you end up living in the property for a few years.

What I have been guiding my new clients toward is to find deals that cashflow (not too difficult if self managing, tougher but not impossible with management). 

There is a very fine line between "helpful" and "self promotion".

That is may be one of the turnoffs which may come across as the price is too high.Get the tenants out in two weeks, spiff it up, clean and you will probably have more interest.Feedback from the agent has been that folks express interest in making an offer but then disappear.