So far in 2020 things have gone smoothly (I've been very fortunate) and I've also been able to refinance 3 of my mortgages to reduce my interest rates by 2.5% so I'm currently beating 2018 numbers.

Maybe you can structure a lease to go from $450/mo to $600/mo over 2-3 years to make it a smooth transition. 

You have got great responses from Ontario, i quite agree that your first and best option is to use owner occupancy informing them that you or a family member need the apartment as primary residence and for this to work smoothly ensure that the tenant is not a senior citizen or physically challenged because both are protected against owners occupancy.

I spend plenty of time on the phone daily just trying to keep everything running smoothly with just a few properties.

I think you can have both scale and diversity in portions which achieve your overall goals.If you are a remote investor, and using property management, there will be a threshold of scale - number of units you hold in a single market - which will garner you a better rate/unit for property management costs.On the macro-economic level, distribution of holdings in different regions (states/provinces, countries) with diverse economic drivers and a low-level of coupling will help smooth the bumps of fluctuation in local economies.So perhaps it is not a question of Dallas or Indianapolis, but one of how much Dallas and Indianapolis and do your acquire them in parallel or sequentially.

They have technically rid themselves of the MH and the obligation to pay rent, and it makes their SFH home purchase transaction go much more smoothly, as they are no longer responsible for rent past a certain date. 

I don't care how many books you read, you probably won't be very smooth the first time.

Super smooth walls might look odd in a victorian.  

If you already have smooth walls and it looks good, no need to add texture.

The point is, in my experience CA$H is king, and when you have CA$H, it smooths the waters over.