we eventually refied after only 9 months with a significant noi increase through fannie becoming cash on cash plus a sizeable non taxable event along with 5 years i/o at a very low rate which allows for a healthy cash flow

In fact, many many customers from Evolve and Vacasa are leaving and switching to companies like mine due to low bookings and other issues.

Window a/c has less maintenance and less cost or the other way around? 

While there are low and no money down real estate investing methods you can explore, the reality is, you need to capital to invest in real estate.

Every professional property management company in the world has maintenance techs doing simple fixture replacements perfectly competently without any special licenses.

If the property is located in a vacation or coastal zone typically lenders have fairly low barriers to what constitutes a second home.

As Stuart mentioned, price point seems low which means area is likely D-C class at best. 

If you plan to buy cheap low cost properties and primarily seek cash flow, then you can use simple ROI/CoC formulas.

Property Management: If you plan to self-manage the property, set up a system for rent collection, maintenance requests, and communication with tenants.

Any advice on seeking property management and maintenance work in New Jersey?