I just don’t want to start spending $100s on books

You could easily spend over $180 just in fuel and time managing your own rental.

My agreement says I require owner permission - in writing - if I intend to spend over $250 on any single maintenance issue.4.

So, best case scenario: You'd spend a couple thousand dollars to sue them to force them to open escrow and go under contract.

Looking to spend around $20 to $25 per hour for the right person. 

You can spend that time screening tenants looking for more deals or doing anything else you like.

Ideally, by the time we're in our mid 40's, it would be nice if she could switch to a part time/casual type of work schedule and I could leave my full time job and concentrate on maintaining our real estate portfolio full time, and we could both have more time to spend with our 5 kids and eventual grandchildren.My wife and I talk about saving a lump sum to put down on our first rental, but after spending 15 months saving and paying off debt, I am ready to start investing! 

Hey Daniel, Before you spend money opening an LLC I suggest you go to your local credit union, bank and portfolio lender and find out what they're looking for exactly to qualify you for a business line of credit of x amount. 

Silll, buying a home that you do not enjoy and that does not make sense as an investment will likely be a painful waste of money unless you hope to hit the appreciation jackpot, in which case you're gambling and not investing.

You are a reflection of the five people you spend the most time with.