If you grew up in construction, trades, landscaping, etc the answer would be different than if your in law or medical school or have " handy " back ground

Home includes new roof (2014) and neatly manicured landscaping.

Every passing month without tenants is another month of expenses flowing out of your pockets: taxes and landscaping services (or you could put your time into it to save money, which means you are not putting your time into other investment opportunities) quickly come to mind.  

Unit 2: leased until Nov: $700.Monthly income gross: $1300Monthly income with vacancy (10%) : $1170Monthly expenses Taxes: $97.5Insurance: $107.83Property management: $29Maintenance: $65 (5%)Capex: $130 (10%)Landscaping: $50Water sewage: $133Total monthly expenses: $612 Net operating income: $558Cashflow: $250Cap rate: 8.8%Cash on cash : 13.3%Rent to value: 1.7% (2% rule) ---------After purchase I plan to eventually change both units to $675 per month per unit.

What about paint, landscaping, flooring, electrical, etc?

If there's a bit of landscaping to do outside no big deal.

I suppose the same question goes for PM's, contractors, handymen and landscapers.

I've been hands on pounding nails, plumbing, roofing, painting, landscaping, etc on all my flips. 

Here is annual data that I received.Sched Gross Inc: $259.3kTax/Insurance: $26.5k (10.2%)Utilities: $18.1k (6.7%)Professional+On-site Mgmt: $23.9k (9.2%) (need to find their SoW)Maintenance & Repairs: $14k (5.4%)Landscaping: $2.1k (0.8%)Admin: $1.4k (0.5%)Total Exp: $86k (33.2%)I'm thinking of adding an additional 12% of gross on for CapEx.

I don't want to put my family in a vulnerable financial position by obtaining a loan before having a full understanding of the financial landscape, costs, etc. of my future location.