There are certain things that require experience that DIYers just can't get right or spend way too much time trying to do.

I spend less than an hour a month dealing with them. 

While I don't object to spending money to do one's due diligence, I don't know if $500 is called for when you can get very high quality syndication groups/meetups/information for free.

At one time, I told people to spend money on a skip trace so they could file the in personam QT lawsuit (the one where you can served lawsuit papers on all defendants) and avoid the expense of the in rem QT lawsuit (the one where you need a GAL).

I started with Podio (Premium) and already I am seeing it's limits without having to spend a lot of time customizing it or hiring someone to do it or even paying a monthly fee to some third party.

They yield results, but I understand a lot of other people have jobs where they cannot spend so much time on their listings. 

By the time I retire, I want to have enough rental properties to have financial independence to enjoy my hobbies and enjoy spending time with my family and watch my children grow up.

Don't spend your time with other agents as a focus. 

Hope to spend more time here in retirement.

Every time I change cleaners, I spend at least 3-5 hours retraining on my processes and expectations and even then things are missed.