While I don't own a brokerage, I have been managing a team of RE agents for over 5 years. 

Read BP books (The Book on Rental Property Investing, Managing Rental Properties, Set For Life), watch Youtube videos, etc. 

There are some good property managers over there and contractor rates are cheaper than the western part of the state. 

Do property management companies need a real estate license? 

Having some clue about property management and tenant relation will definingly help your success in this field.

I disagree,  if you know how to manage your other debts best to buy sooner and get the asset

I know that there is a plethora of forms on the internet and folks pass them around like candy, but truth is, the property management business involves a lot of legal issues and situations.

Your $600 should be over $1200 a month if you split up that $500K over (2) properties (Outside of California) you could double up on your NOI.The age old question is out of state management - my reply is if its turn key or renovated it will need very little management other than lawn and once in a blue moon repair.

How do you manage those if you have?

Site selection, estimating/detailed budgeting, all labor/material/soft costs are an open book with no markup/GC fee, and i own all site management from groundbreaking to closing.- Total cost of these projects would range between $390k-$550K.