One suggested signing up for their service plan ($20/month per apartment) which includes one annual boiler checkup prior to the winter to avoid issues like mine and small discount on regular plumbing services (50% off of service call charge of $95 and 10% off labor costs after).Is this something you guys would recommend?

I am a Field Service Engineer, I repair/service Nuclear SPECT camera's.

For the rest of the country, you would need a prolonged depression before people picked up and left.

Very different Counties and you will pay a premium for Howard County...you might look in Savage as it is a bit cheaper than the rest of Howard County...I dont know much about PG County other than it is going to be much cheaper.

The gas company employees are killing there business here.One thing you need to consider is if the house has enough power service to feed an electric hot water heater, you may have to upgrade that. 

No different than people accepting poor service at a place of business by continuing to patronize it and creating a sense of norm around accepting poor service.

Where will you get the down payments, make debt service, manage, etc?

The property currently cash flows me about $790 per month after debt service and all expenses and the property management fee.

Now that I know the rest of the story   First though you need to get a better handle on your profit situation. 

Make sure it explicitly explains the process for termination if you are unhappy with their services, but especially if they violate the terms of your agreement.3.