The faster the better.

You can probably beat $2000/year insurance, but the management fee should be 10%, you need to factor in turnover too and 5% is probably not enough for both maintenance and turnover and I assume you added it, but you didn't mention property taxes (which have been terrible in Jackson County lately since Frank White decided to jack them through the roof). 

A mix of short- and long-term strategies could hedge against market shifts.Borrowing allows you to scale faster, especially if you can secure favorable terms.

We now own the beat-up POS property that we need like a hole in the head.

Seems like they presented better, know the local area more and will get your property sold faster. 

If you said, "car", you're right.In most states a car can be repossessed faster than a tenant can be evicted - and the tenants know this!

I needed about 50sf so that was pricey but they last a long time and can be buffed to new if they take a beating.

If you are just downloading data room info from brokerage sites and plugging into a model, you are refining your skills on the "act", which is certainly necessary and helps make the process faster.  

Austin was appreciating faster than non-tech cities.

In short: A great accountant will help you get wealthy faster, a bad one will have you make mistakes faster, and no accountant will ensure you keep making the mistakes your currently making.