Looking for advice on how to automate management for maintenance issues, repairs, routine check-ups, tenant applications & leases, tracking things like insurance/property tax/water payments/licenses & registrations, and annual tax filings for LLC and non-LLC holdings.what kind of tools work best when you just have a few properties and can't afford the commercial subscriptions?

There is plenty of property management software available but it is hard to find one that does this automated task. 

The Automated Underwriting System didn't even ask for tax returns when I fed it the scenario, and this wasn't in 2006, it was in 2016!

Set up an automated MLS search and include the keyword "cash".  

There are always state and local issues that change, here as well as in other places that are automating, they recently changed the margin requirements for filings, so all (or at least many of) the old instruments became scratch paper.

Automate everything so it saves you time.

One of the largest sites to check out is the Automated Housing Referral Network (AHRN).

What automated process are you looking for?

I recall there are some online services to automate rent collection or perhaps an app? 

I use transunion smartmove for screening, and would need at least that level of data, I don't want an automated confirm or deny.