The home warranty company wants to repair the issue at the lowest cost, so they choose contractors they can get at the lowest price. 

I suggest running the numbers with the different financing options and choosing the option that works best for your.  

You will need to get a local, rockstar Realtor, contractor, lender, and property manager. https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-team As for picking a specific market, I would choose one that has job and population growth with a high median income, and Columbus, Ohio is a great choice.

Choosing Atlanta as your market may be a bit to vague.

This is an opportunity I really don't want to mess up because I know whatever I choose now will greatly influence what comes after.

I'm currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is a super tough market, so I decided to choose Metro Detroit as the market that I want to focus on this year. 

You choose and let them know.

We must choose an investment that is reliable and has high positive returns.

This gives the tenant a choice and usually the tenant will choose to take care of it themselves.

But I will say this, there will hopefully come a time that you will need to choose which career you want more.