The primary reason for hiring them was to free up my time, but that didn't happen, in fact I spent more time reviewing their financials and answering their questions than I did managing myself.So, what do I wish managers did: actually manage the property correctly and efficiently.  

You can then run your reports according to property or the entire portfolio.There is a bit of a learning curve, so you may want to check out some tutorial videos or hire a firm to set up the account and help with support.

When flipping, would you look to do the work yourself, or hire it out? 

You can hire an attorney and sue for larger amounts, but are you ever going to collect?

Once I was under contract, I hired a property manager and have been working closely with them to help manage the renovations and our objective is to get the property rent ready within 30 days.

And until you are comfortable with all the paperwork, I highly recommend you have a trusted mentor, or you hire a quality real estate attorney, to advise you in order to protect your interests.  

My good friend had a unique and very uncool thing happen by a property manager he hired for his first rental/investment.

Make sure you have this on the top of your checklist prior to doing the deal.Regarding property management: I confess that I don't know anyone who successfully hired a reliable and affordable property management company. 

Since I had moved out of my house and put my things in storage, I had some extra money coming in to hire someone to cold call for me.

This will be a 1031 exchange, so I need to hire a QI (qualified intermediary)Do I also hire an attorney?