I've been doing my own bookkeeping on Quickbooks online and it doesn't take too long. 

If you decide to revisit STRs, you might want to explore properties where you can project expenses independently, such as using local STR forums or online tools to estimate maintenance, management, and occupancy costs.For networking and strategy-building, you might find local meetups or groups beneficial.

I picked her exactly because she had a good social and online footprint!!

There are many resources for you to connect online and in person.

Focus on identifying promising neighborhoods in the north or east bay by leveraging your husband’s contractor network, local real estate agents, and online deal-finding platforms.

If you're more of a 'personal referral' person than a 'do research online' person, and this is local to you in Manhattan, KS, hit up one or two of the trades people in the "little apple all stars" BNI group.

Brown: I use https://www.bestwyomingregisteredagent.com/Very simple, 100% online, they are responsive if you need help.

Yes, you still do online shopping and coordination and so on, but hitting 500 hours in this case becomes far more challenging.

I recommend doing your research and looking at properties online. 

While you are figuring it out and/or deploying it over time, US Treasuries and certain CDs are paying 5%...and 4% for certain online savings accounts.