Expect to pay about $3600 or so on all the appraisals (assuming all are investment properties).If I remember correctly, you said you had excellent credit before, You may even have an option for all conventional financing with a bank who'll do more than the 4 financed properties.

The idea with the meter is excellent!

Been with them over a year now and they've done an excellent job.  

I'm thinking I should get the double panes for the insulation (hot in Florida), but only the single hung (tenants don't clean windows).What are your thoughts?

To me, it seems like this would be an excellent 1-2 year crash course to learn the "nuts and bolts" of the industry for a variety of reasons.

we have issued exactly 1 receipt in 6 yrs and 15 houses. so, dont bother with them unless they request them. it's a waste of time.i have Quicken Property Manager and love it. it keeps our personal and business stuff on there. throw excel and such junk out the window. most people have Buildium, but it's expensive for just 1 house.quicken PM is around $80 give or take. dont use excel. 

Looking for a good excel sheet - not to complicated, to keep track of 10 rents on one property. 

There is a possibility this is indicative of market conditions, but that's not how this was advertised.Additionally, when you pull search results, the system makes you pay for extracting the leads in excel after I've already paid for  the software.

Because I enjoy the planning and coordination, I enjoy design and building, I want to be out in the field often, and I believe I'd excel at it.

@Joe Villeneuve has written some excellent posts on the power of leverage and as long as you know how to maintain and control your leverage, you could turn that money you would normally put towards getting a house free and clear, and turn it into multiple other properties.