As an investor, you get a bundled deal on outsourced work, and a tenant would be more likely to chose your property for the cable+ TV package (or you can charge more for rent)If the numbers work, they work!

How would I differ from a tiny REIT or a rent-secured bond if I owned a bunch of residential properties and outsourced all property management? 

Dont venture out on outsourcing labor if you already have some people you trust . even if you have to wait a bit for them .

Some accountants outsource the work for their client to the cost seg engineer companies but then the tax accountant charges more to defend in an audit so you pay twice instead of cost seg defending the report for no more cost.You can also be capped if you do not have real estate professional status against personal income after you have depreciated income from the property.

Do you outsource via a service or do you just pay folks you know to do this for you?

He's been in construction for 10 years and he's confident that he can accomplish 60-80% of the rehab with his construction buddy, and outsource whatever he cannot do. 

That will teach you the basics and give you the knowledge to determine whether you want to continue on like that or outsource the PM duties.

As much as you can outsource activities, there are many decisions which will either enhance or destroy the returns.

I outsourced as much as I could because I am a full time General Manager which is very time consuming.

DIY is dead, outsource instead.