They gave me very optimistic figures.

DIY A first-time DIYer can expect to spend several hours replacing a kitchen faucet.The time it takes depends on your experience and the faucet's complexity.You'll need tools like wrenches, a putty knife, and a small bucket.You'll also need materials like supply lines, silicone caulk, and plumbers tape.You may be tempted to be cheap and estimate only 30 minutes, but you should estimate an hour to be safe.What about the time to go to the property to figure out if a 2-hole or 3-hole faucet is needed, then drive to Home Depot to get it, drive back to install and then head either to the next job or back to the office?

Now, you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them.

Just trying to figure out how to best apply it. 

There are a bunch of different figures associated with this decision, such as new interest rate, old interest rate, cash flow of new property etc, but I'm having a hard time getting my mind around how to analyze the decision mathematically.  

For some reason I got a notification in this old thread and figured I would chime in.

Finding someone who can offer me better balance is the primary motivator but I figured if someone is going to invest their own capital then they will take their responsibilities more seriously than someone who doesn't or even someone who merely raises from an outsider. 

@Byoung Bae would NOT recommend an inexperienced investor try to DIY manage OOS anything other than a Class A rental.The odds are against you and you will statistically lose a LOT of money.Read below for some friendly advice:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Since you’re still figuring out where to invest, look for areas with strong rental demand, good schools, low crime, and potential for future growth.

So I'd need to figure out an agreement/return between A and B, and then I'd need to figure out an agreement/return between (A&B) and C.