I have no involvement in the deal at all, or transaction, contract, not a consultant.I set-up a quick LLC for them to pay me under, and opened a bank account for it.

.#1  Real estate is a long game , not quick and fast like the stock market (unless you are doing flipping or wholesaling)#2  Leverage - lending is becoming looser.   

But if it's something quick like, hey how is the rehab coming, or where do we stand with signing a new tenant, I just text.

This at least will help you get good at quickly analyzing properties by researching tax info and potential rents. 

I been researching myself the answer to this dilemma - here are some other threads that you should read to gain insight in the various pros and cons of an approach versus the other.74999-paying-off-rentals-early568352-pros-cons-to-paying-off-rental-property-early547169-how-leveraged-are-you527382-pay-off-mortgage-and-snowball521188-pay-off-one-property-or-look-at-another74999-paying-off-rentals-early529189-payoff-mortgages-or-notShould You Pay Off Your Rental Properties Quickly?

Get as much info as you can up front and act quickly.

Once you have spent many years dealing with people and working with the public, you pretty quickly get a good feel for a person - if you don't, you better get a good property manager or you'll be shook out of this business quickly. 

And I appreciate your quick reply.  

But I would buy, not rent, unless I wanted an option for a quick move or if an affordable small house is too far away from your current work location.

If none of those quick things work, you can ask BP and someone may give you a good lead.