It's easier said than done, but decide what you're willing to spend and stick to it.

I live in Asheville, NC and also have experience/ spend time in Austin, TX and New Hampshire.

What is not known is how much time and effort you spend to run this business as if you take the $85k and minus salary(ies) to run it, then what would it net gain you?

Though I appreciate the idea of finding online resources and studying them, I find that a curated, tried and true formula (if it works) is much more worth my time than spending time trying to find which resource works best and then spitballing the ideas until something sticks. 

The more time you spend on administrative tasks coordinating with multiple service providers, the less time you get to spend on managing your properties, finding new potential investments and increasing your financial returns.Tax strategies and property insurance are two areas that are highly customizable because no two portfolios are identical.

The goal is to change careers to something that allows me to decide my hours (in the process of now), become a landlord, and finally spend more time with my kids and family. 

I am thinking of moving to Pricelabs soon as I am spending a lot of time tweaking rates almost daily.

I plan to head to the area in the beginning of December and would love to use the time I spend there to speak with lenders, property managers, etc. to make a more educated decision. 

Quote from @Devin James: Quote from @Jay Hinrichs: for us we do very little marketing we rely on MLS what we do to compete is spend an extra 10k or so per house with upgrades other builders simply wont do..

How much you can spend will determine it.