Happy neighbors are a great bonus, except i've never got a check from one for increasing their property value! 

I often break it down into the "five pillars" of protecting your assets.1st pillar is avoiding unnecessary and risky activities (don't drink and drive, insurance generally won’t cover your poor decisions) and take good care of your investments - these simple steps will help you prevent lawsuits before they even occur.2nd pillar is a good insurance policy as that cover the majority of your exposure.

Still, the exposure was great.

I desire a buy and hold cash flow investment and any appreciation would be a bonus.  

I often break it down into the "five pillars" of protecting your assets.1st pillar is avoiding unnecessary and risky activities (don't drink and drive, insurance generally won’t cover your poor decisions) and take good care of your investments - these simple steps will help you prevent lawsuits before they even occur.2nd pillar is a good insurance policy as that cover the majority of your exposure.

Water under bridge at this point.You will need some REI education unless you've had some exposure to RE and REI.A low-cost start might be to take your state's real estate agent / broker classes just to learn the business of Real Estate and some of legal aspects.

Their salaries + FICA + bonus + health is going to set you back a certain amount at the minimum - let's call that minimum $120,000, though to get good people in competitive markets it'll be more than that.So, the first question is - how much GCI do you need to absorb this payroll?

I purchased a beach house 3 1/2 years ago for 460K and I am in contract to sell at $724K after the rental season which is a nice bonus..  

Your CPA will need to review them.Tax planning is extremely valuable, but it's not an automatic free bonus when you hire a CPA for tax preparation.

That's the agents job, maximize exposure.