There is a big difference between a do it yourself handyman and a professional that does repairs and installations for a living day in and day out.

I have two buildings where the utilities are shared and to avoid high temperatures in the the apartment in the winter, I install programmable thermostats that limit the upper temperature.

Friend is willing to loan me the cash for full purchase price (for a fair fee).

Don't forget your closing costs on purchase and all your fee's when you sell.

I installed a new hvac unit in my personal house, blew in 12 inches of insulation, added soffit vents 8 more of them, a ridge vent , and added storm windows at the recommendation of my hvac contractor. 

The property currently cash flows me about $790 per month after debt service and all expenses and the property management fee.

Once I announced that I would require an application fee and run credit/criminal background checks, the calls dropped to a few a week.

They will let you know if you need to upgrade the kitchen and install an HVAC because they know what the other homes in the neighborhood have.

Understand the fees involved and calculate the total cost for an entire year of management so you can compare the different managers.

One podcast recently i listened to mentioned that he self manages all his properties to save on the PM fees, but he has some sort of policy with the local utilities that basically gives his tenants a 24hr number to call if something was to happen to say a frig or hvac... he even mentioned it covered a clogged toilet..I am curious what exactly is this such policy he is talking about, because the way he worded it, it sounded like he took most of the headache out of the job with this and he just worries about getting new tenants and collecting rent... he said the policy was cheaper than just keeping a handyman on call to do the repairs..