Here are some ideas I didn't see you mention: Road Side Signs, Social Media Campaign, a Website (that can actually automate some of the stuff your Wife can't get to b/c of kids and life) and the last mention would be to form a Team.Real Estate Investing is not a 1 Man or 1 Family career, it's a Team Sport.

It depends on how far below the typical price point that is but frankly I would just comb the listings as they come up based on an automated alert and Call the listing agent, it is not worth it to pay 1-5 k  extra at that price point (unless you are the RE agent getting those $$). 

While they are sending me automated MLS listings (except for my CA realtor, who I think maybe forgot to set that up for me because he is crazy busy right now), I am doing the legwork of sorting through the listings and trying to figure out which ones are in need of significant repair.

I would suggest finding a handyman who is very good and willing to take those emergency calls for you.You can scale it by automating as much as you can and having a system in place with steps for evicting, finding tenants, getting a property ready after tenants moving out, etc.Good luck!

. - when you do land those other units, it could be worth considering a shot at a software solution built for DIY landlords (1 - 15 units) to bring some automation to the rental management process, in turn, making things much much easier!

You can check around the forms, but there are many "smaller" PMS (like Hostfully or Ownerrez) that you can dip your toe into and set up a more automated, multi (listing) channel strategy.If I'm misunderstanding your situation, let me know, or send me a DM; I'd be happy to offer my advice on how you can stay hands-off.

In addition, I use certain modern tech tools to automate pre-auction research, servicing of liens and monitoring portfolio.

We found Turnoverbnb offers superior automated scheduling and a few other features we really liked (inventory, optional in-app payments) so we've switched to that (Properly is really the superstar of the space though, you can't beat their visual checklists). 

I have been looking around and am surprised that there is so little discussion regarding home automation. 

But it's also a bit par for the course when investing in certain areas remotely, while depending entirely on a management company that due to low margins needs to have hundreds of units under management as well as automate everything as much as possible in order to stay afloat/ earn a decent profit.