The forums are full of self-managing landlords who make little mistakes that turn into big mistakes that cost them years of cash flow (or more).If you want to be a DIY landlord, I recommend books, blogs, classes, or other resources to educate yourself quickly.

The Trustee of the REIT can buy and sell properties within the REIT without triggering a capital gain event to you as the investor, however, this flexibility also allows the operators to potentially add properties to your investment portfolio that may expose you to risks or asset classes you were previously unaware of.There are a couple of sponsors I am aware of that carve individual properties out of the REIT, into a DST, then pull them back into the REIT at a significant mark-up to the DST investor.

You can exchange 1 property into multiple properties in locations and any asset class (farm, office, single family, multifamily). 

You've done well with your Class A rental, generating $500/mo in cash flow, this adds up over time.

I'm in the exact same boat, with very similar advice from others. 

When buy in some cheap Ohio area for example theres lots of risk with tenant issues but if you buy in a class A area for example north side chicago the deals run effortlessly.

They charge 15K for their 1 year support - a. the reality of this support : yes, they will respond to your questions but only if they are to understand how things work - like a real estate 101 class.

This would mean your class of tenant causes more damage than expected, or hail destroys your roof *every 5 years* or something similar.

Quote from @Brendan Lawrence: Looking for solutions to offer financing to buyers:We have a unique asset class that we're building out here.  

The majority of the respective markets listed above are A-class.