Hey Deirdre,To address your questions:Providing freedom by handling day-to-day operations.Offering peace of mind through proactive maintenance and tenant communication.Reducing risks by staying ahead of legal requirements, tenant screening, and dispute resolution.Enhancing the bottom line by identifying cost-saving opportunities while ensuring tenant satisfaction to reduce turnover.Is the experience still important when the property thrives financially?

Found T&H realty services to be pretty interesting as they provide both buyer brokerage service (to help me find deals) as well as do property management i.e. they are not full turnkey provider necessarily, but reduces some of the hassle for me I guess as an out of state investor. 

I like this idea because it reduces the potential vacancy I could have by doing a short 3- to 4-month lease that ends in April or May, then starting over with a year lease.

My agent is saying that we are unable to split the contract that way (or reduce the purchase price), so I'm trying to figure out options.

Additionally, many states offer property tax exemptions, significantly reducing expenses.

I would also add, a contractor that you can buy materials for and they know how to put them in with little to know direction (reduces the management time of the project).

Step up in basis to reduce your heirs' taxes and morePlus the real estate tax "deferral" can end up being permanent if played correctly

The flat fee buyer agency fee reduces the amount of the buyer credit/refund, generally by $6,000 (although options range from $999 to $8999, depending on how much help the buyer wants from the agent).

Yet, many investors overlook simple strategies that can significantly reduce their tax liability.

The problem is that your debt payments are going to basically wipe out that $400K profit unless there is room to increase revenue or reduce expenses.