I like to have a property manager to take care of the day to day.

For things like routine lawn care and preventive maintenance, such as termite protection, the value is the cost. 

Regardless of the surface...if there's lead paint on the interior/exterior of the unit and it's loose/flaking, it will need to be taken care of. 

Maybe you don’t care too much because it’s another property for potential appreciation under your belt that the tenants are paying off?  

Their motivation is to make a fee and in most cases don’t care what problems you inherit.  

Make sure you verify the labor and material costs you are paying, I mean absolutely sure because you really do want to understand his skin in the game. 

Cleveland has world-class: orchestra, theater, museums, heath-care ( Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals ), top-ranked universities/colleges (Case Western Reserve, Cleveland Institute of Art), multiple Fortune 500 companies.

I have entertained the idea of getting my real estate license (so we could be saving money on our buys and sells) as well as helping take care of the odds and ends errands that eats into my husband’s time (running to stores for materials, fixtures, etc.).

I'd be careful before you go claiming somethings is illegal. 

Not too bad in todays local market if it's well taken care of and somewhat updated, but like @David Bardwell said, forget the purchase price until you're finished analyzing.