I can think of two things that might help reduce the recovery time needed. 1) Find a business partner, someone who’s skills/likes compliment your own. 2) systematize and outsource more tasks.

But I will need to travel (by air) to the home to do some work that I don't want to outsource. 

Also, why learn a new business in PM when you can outsource that to a PM business?

Would you be self-managing or outsourcing to a property manager?  

Cold calling is something that most companies outsource to other countries at $2-$6 an hour.

So in my experience I would find a way to outsource it to a competent local book keeper. 

There are some tenants that pay me month in and month out who I rarely, if ever, hear from and then there are some tenants who I have outsourced to a property management company because they need more handholding.

But once you have been identified and assessed the risks, all techniques to manage the risk fall into one or more of these four major categories: Avoidance (eliminate, withdraw from or not become involved)Reduction (optimize – mitigate)Sharing (transfer – outsource or insure)Retention (accept and budget)Ideal use of these strategies may not be possible.

Outsourcing is promising but not as productive.

We've done the obvious: Pay property taxes, insurance, property management, utilities, leveraged nearly everything we could squeeze out of the properties with mortgages, write off interest, take depreciation on the value of the building, recorded all expenses down to $1 for duplicate keys, taken mileage for every trip to the bank, properties, courthouse, Home Depot, showings etc, we outsource all the contractor work and then broken down the quotes to painting, repairs, supplies, 5  year deprecation items, and 27.5 year depreciation (a contractor installing Blinds, Laminate Floors & Windows would have 3 breakout prices), we write off meals, permits, REIA meetings, BP Subscriptions, record CPA costs.