I have never sold a house before so I was a little surprised to get an estimate from my agent that it would cost me upwards of 8% ($17k) to sell the home.

Hence no city lien surprises.

Seller has no integrity and chances are there will be other surprises you will find if you purchase home

First, is there any tax surprises when leaving a W2 job for rental income?

Surprised we haven't crossed paths before!

I've been meeting with some different property managers recently to (a) get an idea of what areas they see as good investments and (b) figure out who I would want to use to manage my acquisitions.I was very surprised to hear from one that he doesn't have any rental properties of his own.

In my dealings I have been surprised by the number of owners that do not make a profit with their homes.

. :)I think you'll be surprised by all the features Buildium has to offer -- keep good books in the system - it will make it very easy to know the financial health of your investment and track where all the money goes.  

That's why if they are local, I verify the landlord online and do a surprise visit to the house to sign something or collect money.

You might be surprised later in a year or two that same house will be back up for sale and you will even get a better deal.