Just wanting to come up with the most efficient way to utilize it and thought you all would have some good advice here.

I would say initially we were slightly under after factoring everything in, but didn't take long to move to slightly over, and better and better.I would say two of our largest learnings in REI were around the PM:- Our PM is far better at mandatory rent increases and making tenants pay utilities etc, as where we were often afraid to ask (to say nothing for their knowledge of other rules, regulations, trends that we know nothing about)... so i would say at the end of the day our PM probably makes us money rather than costing us money.- For us, this is a long term game and all about lifestyle. 

But paying around $1100 for rent + utilities. $200-$300 / month on groceries.

Is there other income that's not being utilized (laundry or other)? 

It gets messy drawing the line in the sand between investment and personal use/utility.

Like in this case where the lot is undeveloped and you will need utility taps, vs. a tear down and rebuild. 

You can do well for 300k in Memphis and if you are moving in, you can utilize an FHA loan to save cash for repairs you might need to do.

I’m curious if one even needs an agent in order to utilize the loan from the mortgage company.

It's common to use properties in your portfolio as stepping stones and trading them out after a period of time utilizing great tools such as the 1031 exchange.

The benefits of downsizing are: Saving Money - Moving into a smaller home typically means having a lower monthly payment and lower utility, insurance, and maintenance costs.