I’m not convinced that providing a washer/dryer connection will put any more rental income in my pocket and the home has other desirable features so I’m not worried that the lack of connections will be a deal breaker for a prospective tenantThoughts?

If you're portfolio is smaller Buildium is a good software that has all the features you described.

They have an email list called deal makers where experienced folks refer out their contractors even teams.BP has started a contractor referal feature.   

The first and foremost advice that can be given is to first check they are in compliance with your state tenant-landlord laws. 

I manage my own County Tourist Tax: 6% (airbnb now allows hosts to charge it to guests, nice feature)With that you can create an excel spreadsheet to get the numbers.

Are there any features that should be included to draw additional value (social areas/patios, bike racks, permanent grills)?

Usually while legally sufficient, these templates have absolutely no asset protection feature.

It is hard for a new platform to draw consumers, and I fear that once/ if they do they'll start selling premium features to agents that will more or less make the free version less valuable. 

Microsoft Excel has a pretty neat feature on the backend that very few people leverage, VBA.

First and foremost I'm new to REI and have not done my first deal yet.