Quote from @Michael Smythe: @Kwanza P.Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

To them, everything takes "5 minutes" to do.The entire PMC industry has major challenges when it comes to handling maintenance, so it's a featured topic at most industry conferences. 

HUD.GOV is originating source for FHA loan info.

If the software is not simplifying your life or making you more accurate, you shouldn't use it.Software does have extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

- Good source to find reputable and experienced small multifamily builders once we firm up a specific market?

We track multiple disregarded entities using the location feature and multiple properties using the customer feature (units can be tracked as sub-customers).

The process seems daunting and overwhelming, and I am not confident I will put the time in to talk to sources, analyze, and find properties for investing purposes. 

They have a formula based on the property and its features as well as the tenant's income and expenses. 

You could pay the contractors but if you can be a strong referral source I'm sure they'd be happy to give you estimates.

We've found it has superior reporting features, integration features, and is overall more efficient to work within than other REI-specific software.The downside is QBO is not set up for REI so you'll need to do that or work with an expert to ensure it is set up for your business appropriately.