I use Cozy.co for rent collections.

That means you establish a Traditional LLC to carry out the operations of your investments, in order to separate the liability from your assets, including: paying property management, paying contractors, collecting rent, marketing, etc. 

Automated collection is that important to me.

It will be nice to have a business degree, but the specifics of what you know is more important.That being said, finance (and by extension, accounting) will give you a good introduction to the math side of investing, which is really helpful.

There are a few online rent collection services. 

My long term goal is an extensive rental portfolio.

Hello ok this is my first eviction and im a little confused Ok so i have been looking at a house right next to mine for a long time maby 1 year and it has ALWAYS been vacant and i finally won the home at a  foreclosure auction well no joke literally the next day after aution some people moved inside the home with there trucks in the driveway.. but i did not confront them because the deed was not in my possession so 1month later after i received the deed  i spoke to the man and we came to an agreement verbally no writing or papers that he would give me 500$ a month as rent keep in mind i have never entered the home so one month past and i went over to the man to collect rent and he told me he cannot pay me because the house needed serious repairs so i got frustrated  talking with him and told him to just leave i cannot repair the home while he is living there so i waited 1 week and the man still never left so i served an eviction notice and had to wait another  30days in order to file it to the court..well im going to court next week and was seeking advice do i demand a jury trial for the extra cost?

@William Joseph you are definitely getting a bunch of responses from folks that likely are scared of or have never owned guns/ammunition.Hunting/fishing is a normal past time in the flyover states where I live - I sent you a colleague request - depending on what you have would possibly be interested in buying if it's anything I collect and at the least can guide you in how to sell the items left behind. 

I decide to take it all and invest in syndication with returns of 9% or I can buy 4 houses cash and let you manage it and collect my rents.

I’d be interested in collecting an opinion or two from people that have made this choice before...I’ve collected about a dozen SFR rentals and I’m considering selling one.