I also understand that making that money work for me will be far more effective than letting it sit in my bank account.

What would you say is a good amount to save for managing and maintaining the property?

If you actually expect the tenant to pay for maintaining your property plus pay rent.

I love going to different homes, seeing the vast differences in quality and layout, comparing them to the local market, and putting it all together to make a "big picture".My largest challenge so far is developing an effective marketing system. 

And that's because we were conservative with leverage and never bought at the top of a market.3 - Maintain a *lot* of liquidity in other investments so we can feed the properties if necessary, and like you said pay off the notes if refinancing is not available.4 - Never bite off more than we can chew.

Remember their ability to keep their job (or have a steady income) will directly effect their ability to pay the rent.We always have them submit pay-stubs. 2 - 3 most recently ones give us the information we need.

Bandit signs are still an effective way to generate leads but it is important to be in it for the long haul and not rely 100% on that method alone. 

Run some amortization tables for your self with a fixed rate for differing length of times.You will be shocked that the changes in the mortgage payments and the effects on your ROI.Ask your partner what's the advantage to creating excessive equity when that money could have been put to work elsewhere?

For Craigslist posts, there is a "flag" option that is effective in getting posts removed.

Farming operations have scaled correspondingly and what was the family farm of my grandparents is no longer sustainable ... in the areas where my parents grew-up, many "family" farms today are working  6 - 10 sections annually - a task that requires millions of dollars in capital equipment.There are also farmers who are specializing in organic and/or non GMO crops (both of which may require maintaining a wide border strip between their fields and their neighbours crops).There were (and likely still are) two principal ways of renting farm land in that area: a) straight rent per acre/quarter/section or b) a share cropping arrangement with the farmer working the land.