Should I hire a bookkeeper, as suggested by Robert Kiyosaki "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"...i think i do a pretty good job myself.

I would suggest going for whatever your local market supports, and lines up with your personal goals and skills.

Emerald coast is great as well.But if I can make a suggestion.

I strongly favor regular price reductions until leased out.Most people make the mistake of letting it sit too long when simple math points to that fact that 2 additional weeks of vacancy at $1000 per month equals $500.

Here's my suggestion for next steps.

I agree that gives a bit more credibility, so thank you for those suggestions!

Very thorough suggestions from Nathan Geisler on finding and vetting a PM.

Forgive me if I am missing something simple here.

I would suggest a few things: 1. don't make repetitive log entries every day " managed rental, did calls" copied and pasted 50 times likely would be thrown out in an audit for example. 2. make sure you are materially participating in your rental activities. 750 hours is not enough, you need to pass the second test of material participation in the rental activities to turn that activity from passive to active and claim the deductions on your active income. 

They keep life simple.