I personally have success in doing flips with my partner here in Ohio.Lakewood and Edgewater are gentrifying neighborhoods in Cleveland.

I think it's just for text, not to talk with a live person.

Is 10-15 miles too big of an area when determining the unit count per person?

Make sure your personality matches your path.  

It kinda creates a much smaller threshold for the tenant to save money if they were to keep an eye on their usage since I'm paying a large chunk of it, while also being able to keep any eye on how much they spend so it gives them that personal incentive to watch their usages.

My personal preference for a buy and hold would be an already established area (or an area that's still gentrifying, but has already seen significant progress). 

A new person moves in and she says the upstairs neighbors are creating a ton of noise.

The vast majority of contractors won't want to give bids on properties while under contract unless they have a relationship with that person from prior jobs.

The question is, what is the intention  of the owner, not what would a reasonable person think is the intention of the owner.

Managing five rentals can eat up a ton of time in any given week, often at times that are inconvenient to you and your personal interests (family, hobbies, travel, etc.).Of course you can manage on your own.