I end up spending 20k more than I expected.

The biggest form of energy production in Tennessee today, nuclear power, simply wouldn't exist without many, many trillions in tax dollars to develop, not to mention the government stepping up to insure and protect the plants, manage and protect the waste for half an eternity, and clean up the trillion dollar mess in case of another disaster.

I would spend the $20,000 and have them spec out the site and also do a cost estimate. 

They help you grow your investment portfolio, by maintaining the asset, protecting the downside by placing good tenants, and help you analyze new properties. 

If so, roughly what are you spending per sqft? 

We have a 14-page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord.

She spend an intensive 2 months studying real estate principles, law, and finance, and studying RV parks in both counties.  

If you live in the house, and an LLC owns it.....there is zero liability protection created by that LLC.

The learning curve for plumbing is a nightmare, you'll spend a lot of trips to the store and get frustrated starting over constantly. 

This is where I spend most of my time.