would you actually put someone making minimum wage, or anywhere close to it, in a 20k rig and actually expect to get anything done.?

The rest, RIG IT and sell.

To install PEX all you do is measure, cut with the pipe cutters which is pretty much like cutting paper then slip on the copper ring, slip it into the fitting then crimp.

Sometimes people stay in an Airbnb because they can do so cheaper than a hotel but most people also like the added value of feeling at home, having a kitchen and/or having a less cookie-cutter vibe than a hotel.

And the lawn mower dude usually carves it up with his brush cutter.

We have a neighbor that just listed his home to sell across the street about 30k over what we owe on our place same layout as us (our home is one of those cookie cutter homes) so I'm hoping they get full asking because that will help ours appraise higher and possibly open up the heloc option.

If someone like him has a cookie cutter setup they can plug you into with minimal fees it would be ideal, along with the other concepts of course (ie keeping your name associated with the properties by self-managing).

I understand the tenant pool in the smaller town can be less cookie cutter.

I have picked up a unit or two, from an actual bad landlord, one who, instead of putting a new wax ring on a toilet, rigged it, one who had let a tenant have raw sewage backing up for a few months, before, they had the sewer pipe cleared out.

Computer models also benefit from lots of tuning, machine learning, and if the company is good some really expert tweaks to take into account things newer folks would miss.Doing it manually is great because a person can sometimes easily see something that the computer model misses, and can take into account other things - conversations with owners, etc - that the computer model simply can't.Generally I find the computer models do better on cookie cutter deals, and people do better on unusual deals.