You want an accountant who can help you strategize and who is responsive when you want to know the consequences of the financial decisions you are making throughout the year.Good luck.

Managing a rental (even if it cash flows) comes with responsibilities, and it might not be worth it for $300 a month.

My humble advice to anyone attempting to do creative finance is:Creative finance is for experienced investors who have access to capital if anything goes wrong.Learn the lawsDon't use a contract "off the internet", laws vary by state and are also regulated on a federal levelLearn the financing techniques correctlyDon’t skip parts of the processDon’t ever do a “kitchen table” closingUse the proper deedAn attorney can help you with the legal work, but the rest you are on your ownYour guru will not bail you out“Investing” in someone else’s deal by providing a small 2nd loan so the “investor” can pay for “cash to the seller” and for “closing costs” so he can do the deal is a very bad planKnow what problems can ariseLearn the responses and solutions to problems before they are neededKnow everything there is to know about Title and what that meansKnow who a "protected class" individual isLearn the "back doors"Learn human natureUnderstand timelinesUnderstand regulation enforcement (some of these "mistakes" have a 10 year statue of limitations ( they can charge you 10 years AFTER you do the transaction) and carry hefty fines and possible imprisonmentThe court doesn't accept "I didn't know" for an answer"Know that the source of the lead plays a serious role in some states and federallyKnow how much of a "profit" pushes the boundaries to invite an investigationYou can be sued by the seller if you don’t do things correctlyYou are automatically at fault if an investigator or attorney or regulator gets involved.

Understanding the intricacies of the area they’re building in is crucial, as it reflects their intentional selection process.

Then you have the ability to accept or reject their response.4.

Thank you for the response @Bill B.! 

There have been a ton of great responses here! 

Centralize your back office / use remote employees / VA where appropriate to cut costs and improve service levels / responsiveness.  5.

I'm lucky to have a motivated client/investor that wants to work with me, and I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility to take care of that trust and investment.

This is where I would focus, as these are the same attributes that attracted those responsible for the larger projects like the Bellweather District you mentioned in your initial post.With your budget I would recommend NW Philadelphia (Germantown and Mount Airy in particular).