We also own 2 fourplexes in AZ and go out there periodically to work on it, and the tenants we've met out there know we're the owners (though they don't have our address or phone numbers, since we want them contacting our PM for issues).Seems like a lot of people know that what the owner says is final, versus if they're talking to a PM they might think they can get the PM to wiggle a little on some issues rather than being the final decision-maker.

It almost seems like you have to consider the time value of having all of your cash tied up versus levering the property if you're going to look this much into it.

I always look at energy versus return.I have friends that are flippers and it is a ton of work and after looking at it years ago it just didn't appeal to me but everyone is different.

As far as hiring someone versus doing it yourself, I would say that's a personal decision.

As for how best to structure the entity (S-Corporation versus LLC partnership), an S-Corp will probably be best for your partner, considering his whole source of income is from this activity.

Does it matter if I use an in-state versus out of state lender?

Example the mix of tenants with national versus mom and pop, area quality, demographics, etc. will make a huge difference.It's not just banks making these loans.

I personally think real estate is like the tortoise versus the rabbit.

If you're in a later point in your life I would stick with saturated markets like NYC versus other markets that are ever expanding because they can easily overbuild. 

Typically I've seen are a double closing versus assigning a property over to another investor.