In the end my friend needs to manage the manager. 

I am a Real Estate Broker/Property Manager in Florida and I often target buyers and investors out-of-state. 

My company works directly with 2000 of these contacts and they are considered our "VIP Buyers" and 62,000 of these contacts are vetted active buyers our dispo managers have added to their list.

But, a funny thing happened on our way to the Forum: we were able to learn first hand how to manage properties, deal with renters (including the House from Hell and the Renters from Hell on our 3rd property), what to look for in deals, etc. 

House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience.

I have a property management company for MTR and STR.

Christopher,Check out the following property management software packages. 

This classic “leveraged buyout” is the basis for what we call “private equity” (KKR) today, but of course requires significant capital, business and financial expertise and experience, and a business target large enough to attract top tier management with incentives to out perform the previous management.   

Your Home Away Management and Five Star Vacation Home.

I’m working with my father on managing his RE portfolio.We have one multi family property that is fully paid off and generates roughly $200k in NOI/Cash Flow.