This is my first project and a very extensive one.

It's going to be very difficult to collect after closing. 

It took me about 15 minutes to collect pictures and proposed 2016 tax estimates from 3 of my neighbors.http://www.dallasnews.com/investigations/watchdog/20160422-how-to-protest-your-property-taxes-in-texas.ece

Multi-family properties are the best for buy and hold in Bakersfield because the price per square foot is lower then a comparable single family home (so they are cheaper to purchase) but you end up getting a lot more rental income because instead of collecting $1000/month on an average sized house, you collect three monthly rents of $700/month for an average sized unit in a triplex.  

As you use the people over time, you'll learn who you like to do business with.PM fees vary, but it's usually a percentage of rent collected.  

I would budget for 3 months of expenses due to lost rent and for having to replace carpets and paint if the renters damage your property above what damage deposit you collected.5.

To my knowledge there isnt a single resource to collect the info, besides paid sites. 

seems to have good equity increase, so if it cash flows positive it might be worth letting it appreciate a few more years, and collect income in the meantime.

Who/what do you use for a system of checks and balances to make sure that your Manager is on top of renting/quick turns/collections?)

Jeff Beard Aha, that would make more sense if you didn't allocate CapEx for future within rents collected.