I am 14 hours into the 20-hour online course offered by "RealEstateU."

Check out other online guides available here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides3.

If I am self managing my portfolio, what do I need to check/confirm, and what easily available tools are at my disposal (online, other) to help me do this? 

If you do not find success there, there are some online companies like SpaceJoy, Decorilla, Havenly etc.

You may have to do this several times for all the different tasks being done.The only labor cost not covered by this type of online inquiry is drive time from the businessto the property, to the store & back for supplies and then back to the business address.

Thanks, Jim Rice in person or online?

I have been reading the online resources about getting started, searching the market, and even doing tours, but I am hesitant to jump in and buy a house as I have quite a large amount of student debt.

You can also check their reviews online at Google, Facebook, or Yelp.

We use DealCheck to underwrite deals and QuickBooks Online for everything related to accounting and budgeting.

I’d love to hear about the crime rates or any other issues (which we cannot guess from the online stats), and how easy or hard it is to find reliable tenants and property management companies.