If so, verify her claims & fire her on the spot if she's lying

I believe just the storage part will pay for the buildings and still net me a profit of 15-30,000 a year depending on maintenance I told you guys in the beginning that I would keep this short, but I guess i lied :)Please help open my eyes to something ive not thought about.

With modern technology, I could "walk through" the property without even being there, so that's cool, but doesn't replace having a quality contractor (which I am not that either) walk it through to get a good estimate of costs / issues.  

Do not jump in the deep end before knowing how to do calculations like cap rate, ROI, COCR, etc.Even numbers can lie, and make sure you can verify the property values, projected rents, etc. before you dive in.

A city like Houston would likely swing back around in due time even if it has a crash in the energy sector because of its strong medical, education, labor, import / export shipping ports, technology, etc.So to break down Texas... you're most likely going to want to invest in the major cities.San Antonio - Best city in the state to invest in my opinion.

I'm a new investor without "Piles 'O Cash" lying around for the 20% down payment.  

You may have some luck with Angie's List, etc. but expect to pay up.I've never had to manage a contractor from afar & think it would be difficult even with the best of technology (Skype, etc.).

There shouldn't be any technology constraint here.However, I am not surprise that Propertyware won't let you do that ... their client is the property managers and it's in their incentive to not allow you to consolidate your portfolio and own any of the data.

I am not a plumbing/heating expert, but I would describe the problem and perhaps ask about a mixing valve or appropriate temperature control technologies on the supplied to the bathing and washing outlets ( faucets/showers/etc).Best of luck.

A lipstick job is going to be a lot easier to manage than underpinning a foundation.Remember if you haven't done this before (or even if you have):  things will take longer than expected, things you didn't expect ($$) will pop up, contractors may lie to you, you may not understand the market as well as you thought, etc.