I purchased both as a package and for the next six years enjoyed great cash flow as I paid the tax on the house lot annually at about half of what it should have been and neglected to pay anything on the tennis court lot.  

And in the same complex later built units had individual heat pumps and hot water heaters which the unit occupant pays. 

PM companies charge a lot and if you don't have multiple rentals why pay them? 

They are brutal in all of South Carolina, but specifically in Columbia.A $1,000,000 investment property would be paying over $28,000 year just in property taxes.#1 tip I'd give if you're buying existing (or building) is to call the assessor and ask specifically what the new assessment will be after improvements.

GEt some Credit Cards, spend a little every month and pay off, then get higher limits and repeat.

But ya have to make some educated prognostications in life.Add this to the information your processing - What your talking about doing is eliminating around $4000 or interest expense (which is deductible anyway so really could be a real impact of eliminating $2800 or so) of debt in exchange for paying over $10K in capital gains tax (don't forget possible state gains tax as well).  

Can they bypass this requirement if paying in cash?

Upon "googling" I see where some folks include Debit Cards as not having to send 1099's, but I want to be certain.A lot of contractors lump their labor and materials together.

How do you pay for the tax and insurance?

Real estate is slower to get into so I would first look to switch job wise and see if you can get a a higher paying attorney job.