If they pay electronically, that's huge.

Keeps a running tab on what tenants owe you, can run background and credit checks, and most of all let's your tenants pay electronically for free.

We could send someone over to the archives to search the title books which have not been imported into the electronic Land Registry, but it would be far cheaper for you to shell out $300 for title insurance).Most commercial lenders here now mandate you purchase a lender's policy.  

Find a PM that accepts money electronically?

I've heard that this could get tricky because if the tenant doesn't pay on time and then you take him/her to court, they could make a partial payment of the rent (say through an electronic transfer if an online method is offered to pay rent) before the court hearing and say that they paid rent. 

The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (IRA LLC) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2016, the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

I was thinking to myself that I should create a tabbed binder with sections for tax returns, bank statements, and a section for each property but I thought it may be a waste of time because everything is electronic. 

Yes, I realize that it will be difficult to manage remotely, however I can work from anywhere so I figure that I might purchase something that needed cosmetic fixing, fly out and live in it while fixing it up for a few weeks, hook up with a maid or vacation rental cleaning service, install remote electronic locks, etc. and generally get it set up to start making money. 

What software/service do you use to collect rent electronically?

Worst case, budget about $25 per every 3 hours of courses)- NAR costs (some brokerages may require you to become a "REALTOR(tm)" and there are costs associated with this; our brokerage doesn't require it so we aren't REALTORS(tm)In addition, there are costs associated with the tools you'll need to actually sell houses (signage, electronic lockboxes, etc), but those aren't needed if you are just buying and not selling.Now, some brokers will require "office hours" where you'll have to be in the office to answer phones, some will require minimum number of deals per year, some will take up to 40% of your commission, etc.