I used my physical address as the administrator address and was bombarded with a lot of unwanted mail and this time I’d like to keep that separate.So in general, is this something that is acceptable?

I'd love to hear any perspectives on how the strategy works in the area and would appreciate any guidance on good neighborhoods / towns / areas to take a look at or ones to be cautious of.

I'd look at average home value of each market.

USAA has phenomenal rates and service and I'd love to continue to use them this time around. 

I'd think if you are looking at both, the prices on the 3 western states (sorry AK and Hawaii-leaving you out) are consistently higher.

I'd rather have a few really great cash flowing properties than a dozen that barely cashflow.

The hardest are when it's a one-lane driveway for a multi because then the tenants have to work together.I think you specifically have learned how to work out some kinks from house hacking and being on-site first before you were off-site.

For that reason alone I'd sell :)But that being said, if you truly think that appreciation is better then selling and 1031ing to NC is exactly the move to make. 

If you want some criteria to pay attention to I would suggest to use your "I'd be down to live/move here" list as a base and then evaluate the market metrics to see if it's a strong investment opportunity.

Quickbooks is good although I would definitely prefer to have my accounting software be the same platform as our property management software.