Quote from @Jr Miller: The lack of human interaction increases our number of showings.

Is it standard practice for a PM to visit the home and see what the issue is before sending out a repair person?

Rental income would be $12-14k per year, so your netting $1500-3500 the first year before lowering the interest cost over time and increased rent (rising at 8% per year).So for $0 out of pocket you get another unit, equity growth(over time), income that grows and you created a unit of housing that didn't exist before.

Its just outside of their normal scope of work and it only increases their liability.

There has been an increase in gurus selling seller financing training programs because interest rates have risen.

However, government officials, pandering to populist sentiment, hold landlords to standards and responsibilities far more restrictive than any other business.  

I normally just do new construction on these pemb, so I have never done an actual modification of an existing pemb to increase the square feet. 

You'll want to keep track of these because they can Increase or decrease your at-risk amount and as a result the losses you can take as a partnerYou or your CPA will need to report these on your IRS Schedule K-1s for each of the partners in LLC. ...

are rent increases realistic?

Set it aside in a low risk mutual fund or even a standard savings account.