I am considering putting them under a property manager. 

Have you completed similar projects. 

The LLC should help you lower transaction costs since you as the LLC Manager can buy/sell property, taxes, etc by writing checks from the LLC's business account.I rolled my SDIRA from Equity Trust, no LLC (poor service, high fees) to Madison Trust w/LLC about 6 years ago.

Nobody tells you how to achieve the second phase of the project, the sale of the property—which is the whole point of the exercise.

Begin with a smaller project to gain experience, and ensure you assemble a reliable team of contractors, appraisers, and inspectors.

I don't have any recommendations for you in those cities however I know that BP just launched a "find a Property Manager" tab in their Build a Team section.

While insurance has covered some costs, the process has been stressful, even with a property manager (their responsiveness to these issues has been slow).

We have 2 LLC's that run management companies and 10 LLC's that do real estate investing.

In fact, we ended up paying a bookkeeper $450/month plus the $90 subscription to QB online to manage our relatively small portfolio.

I managed a budies house in a strict HOA and he was continuously being sent bills for fines from things like parking on street or leaving trash cans on the street after trash day.I personally will never buy an investment property where there is an HOA.