Look them up on the tax records for free and then use a free site like Spokeo to search info on the owner.

How much of your free-time goes into research versus actual hands-on work on-site?

Typical pad site is about 3 acres, but I've seen bigger and smaller depending on the well. 

Here's a link to the bill: https://beachrentals.penfedrealty.com/sites/default/files/ar...  

You want an accountant who can help you strategize and who is responsive when you want to know the consequences of the financial decisions you are making throughout the year.There are over 20 real estate accountants on this site.

Online, I actually don’t remember the original site I was on-one of the big ones which led me to a desert land site where one woman who owned a lot of San Bernadino land was selling.

They let my on-site manager know they were going to "take a trip for a birthday party" and have not returned. 

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

You would also need to be at the project site every day watching the work and managing the contractors.

Federa | Buy, Sell, & Rent Homes is the best site for real estate for my opinion.I found a lot of services there that I couldn't find anywhere else.