You're immediately setting yourself apart from all the real estate agents out there who think they know how to valuate real estate by replacing square feet (and price per square foot) with features of house, which may mean the appraiser takes your analysis more seriously. 

She must charge you the minimum AFR (set by US Treasury).

When i was rehabbing properties full time (2011-2014), I also always aimed to set my re-sale price 5% shy of market price.

So I wanted to first set the criteria of about what an average price point should be to start.  

We have a separate LLC set up for each of them and a separate business checking account to collect rents, security deposits and pay SOME expenses. 

Now you can write up a business plan and set a realistic goal. 

So really the answer to your question is first to define a set of criteria.

I was considering a property manager but I really don't know if it's necessary  as long as I could set up some sort of automatic payments with the tenants.. 

And can someone recommend good and inexpensive (or should I say not too expensive) CPA and lawyer, knowing that I don't want to spend a lot of effort and money on setting up a structure for what could be the only operation of this type we ever do?

The point John was making, I think, is that the depreciation and other paper deductions that you create by having rental properties, can help off-set your SEI, and any other income for that matter, as a 'real estate professional'