I didn’t know anyone in Alabama, so I called a few agents I found online and ended up picking one from BiggerPockets.

I don’t think it matters one way or the other just make sure they have some sort of online portal.

You don't need to buy a car dealership, it can be a side hustle or an online business.If you try to get more rent than fair market, you will rent to desperate tenants, who got rejected everywhere else.

The only costs are hourly wages to an assistant to respond to the tenants if something comes up like a question about the online payment portal system or something else.

I've heard some rumors of Airdna skewing data a bit (I've heard this first hand and read online.)

I recommend doing your research and looking at properties online. 

I've been doing my own bookkeeping on Quickbooks online and it doesn't take too long. 

You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp.

I've been running the numbers on different properties using a variety of online calculators for properties that I initially thought looked like there may be potential.

It is not very difficult or complicated to evaluate commercial real estate, there are plenty of good books available that can teach you how, textbooks, online courses, community college classes, even excellent youtube videos etc, and it is actually quite enjoyable in the process to learn.