So while it's not a "must", they can still be extremely helpful on a number of levels (saving you tons of time, giving yourself better credibility, making yourself "available" 24/7, weaving some other helpful technologies into your business, etc).

I just read somewhere that there are alot of homes that have been built in the past 30 years with preservative-treated wood, and that in some cases it's more reliable than stone foundations.http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inventory/Foundations/wood-foundations

A 7,000 class A amp you could get for 3,000 that was a few years old or less.The movie theater make sure you are selling within 5 years as the equipment starts to get outdated and loses some value as technology improves.Apartment for income makes the most sense for dollars.

Perhaps, as technology advances, these fees can be reduced to more manageable levels.Perhaps, comparing stocks and bonds returns with REI performance should not be the only focus of these discussions. 

Building technologies and materials will be evolving as time goes on. 

(Lack of description, below market rent, bad pics, etc.)2) Is there a good way to identify the posts of "Mom and Pop" landlords who might be a bit out of touch with technology or market rents?

A little more b.g. on me -- I am a technology consultant, investor, and small business owner.

And many of these firms are hiring talent of all ages certainly, but in the area of robotics, sciences and other technology fields, a lot of  young urban professionals are coming from CMU and need places to live close to these businesses. 

If job growth outpace shrinkage the technology will survive.

This is very frustrating because calling from a cell to out of state is very costly, and with all the new technology around I just don't see any good reason to do that.