I have done everything from sheet-rock to hardwood floors to roofing and plan to fix my first properties myself with the help of my brothers until I get the ball rolling and can afford to hire contractors. 

I recently have hired employees to help renovate and manage properties, which is a whole new learning experience for me.

Yes, I realize it's much easier to just hire contractors who carry liability and worker's comp, and we're doing this for much of the work, but for smaller projects/day laborers, I'd like to have our own worker's comp even if it means everyone we're covering then becomes an employee (with payroll tax, etc). 

Hey all, Im a college student and freelance graphic designer living on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

I'm not sure if I should purchase here in Los Angeles or venture out of state and hire a property manager.

I hired guys I know to help do one or 2 then just hired laborers to do more. 

I am not sure about your area but here we were not required to use the realty company on an ongoing basis and were upfront with them about only intending to hire them to find the tenant.

Would you recommend hiring a CPA to draw up the documents or is it simple enough that an investor should be able handle it themself? 

You should self manage for awhile and learn the business, until you are so busy that you need to hire help.

In another case, I had a $4m listing expire after 6 months and the sellers hired another realtor.