It seems to me it is very difficult to get recommendations on rock star property management in the areas that seem to be up and coming.

Top producers become top producers because they are always focusing on their pipeline.

After all, when you want to get the property that produces cash flow, there are others you are competing against in offering.I just think in the price range your at, you need to decide if that house is worth it. 

I can tell you im moving to a different state, just got married, have very small debt, alot in my savings and want to set myself on a path to have multiple real estates producing enough income that my wife and I (no kids at this time) can do whatever we want for a living without worrying about income and live in a comfortable home (1,500 sqft home).

I currently own and operate two income-producing businesses in California.

When they first moved in i did let them convert my landscaping from rocks to turf after i just paid for landscaping.

Case 2: I want to maximize my yield and build wealth as rapidly as I can, without taking crazy risk: In this case, you can refinance the properties, likely pulling out $100K+, and use that as the down payment on multiple additional properties, or larger multifamily properties in your area.This would increaese the effects of leverage on the portfolio (compounding returns positively in a growing economy and negatively in a recessionary environment), but over time be highly likely to build more wealth, faster, with some added stress and the need to more closely  manage operations in a much larger business that in initial years likely won't produce as much cash flow. 

Great way to produce income!

That same property today is producing over $2k/ month in cash flow plus about half a million in equity. 

I don't use the garage much except for some storage, so using the space for an income producing alternative sounds good.