The investors in the secondary market have a very good grip on the prepayment risk associated with a drop in mortgage rates and use pricing or yield to offset this, which is why you so often hear of borrowers paying points and lender fees.

Is this the best strategy?

This includes both qualified 1231 gains as capital gains as long as the transaction is not with a related person.

A friend of mine used to do that.

We have one and it gets used on occasion.

This protects you if you have to fire them.2) Pest treatments would depend on the location.

If your using the word "easy" in place of "simple", well heck-yeah! 

This means they will have practically complete control over whom to rent, how much to rent for, and how much to charge for repairs, etc.

When you eventually sell, your potential market is investors - this can mean many things, depending on the state of the market when you sell. 

Real- Estate  is a lot tougher game now because of technology now allowing buyers, sellers to access the market using the internet without using agents but  you do have hot areas that can support  more bodies .