It's a great starter property, so you can work out the kinks, figure out management, and build out your team.

The LLC should help you lower transaction costs since you as the LLC Manager can buy/sell property, taxes, etc by writing checks from the LLC's business account.I rolled my SDIRA from Equity Trust, no LLC (poor service, high fees) to Madison Trust w/LLC about 6 years ago.

Current property manager appears to be unresponsive and also seems to lack work ethics.Looking for recommendations of reliable, professional and responsive property manager who manages in those areas.

I currently own three properties, each managed by a different team.

You can enter for a lower price, learn the management process, and just get a feel for real estate investing without taking on a huge project.

Most of that here will go into the downpayment and closing costs and even then, especially if you long-term rent out the property, you'll likely not cash flow much at all even if you self-manage.  

Both properties are under property managers.

We have 2 LLC's that run management companies and 10 LLC's that do real estate investing.

While insurance has covered some costs, the process has been stressful, even with a property manager (their responsiveness to these issues has been slow).

We have a local manager that can check ID's upon arrival.