I am looking to acquire an out of state MFR and am pondering self-managing remotely or hiring a property manager or occupying one of the units.

All of which have different approaches and cost ramifications.Many investors compound their losses by hiring any contractor interested in their job because they don’t understand or have the skillset to cultivate, communicate, evaluate, or manage contractors effectively.

I'm considering turning over the portfolio to a property management firm, but when factoring the commonly used 10% of rental rate they charge, I may be better off hiring a property manager (perhaps on a part time basis at first, if not full time).

So sometimes owners will hire a company directly to handle those things or have their property manager take care of it.Pest control is a bit different and we usually handle these on a case by case basis.

Lots of people are OK with that because a lot of times people buying in that 2 to 5 million dollar range are more "sophisticated" than someone buying their first home or investment property and they know their way around the deal and don't need guidance, they just want to get the deal.If you feel comfortable with the deal process and economics then I wouldnt worry about what the listing agent is going to earn but if you are worried about getting hosed, you probably should be and hire an agent to work on your behalf.

My thoughts are that there should be ways to make the period without stairs shorter, for example, pre-assemble as much as possible and hire a dedicated team.

and here: https://www.tcn.com/tcpa-penal...I especially love the part where Dish Network was fined $280,000,000 for illegal calls that were made by third party companies they hired - Dish didn't even make the calls themselves! 

Don't assume that you've got their business permanently, or that they don't know other agents, haven't been approached by other agents, or that they wouldn't consider hiring another agent. 

So For the next 6 months to 1 year, I figure the best way to behind that consistency is to generate some income from freelance cold calling for investors. 

You need to cover all three whether personally, with partners or by hiring others.