So the ones telling you they aren't doing good either have no experience and bought off the hype of owning one, just don't know how to run a business or thought that it was a passive investment. 

I would love to chat more about your situation because there are a lot of factors that would be impossible to consider here such as importance of cash flow vs appreciation, how your income situation looks (tax benefits can play a major role in investing decision making) and so on. 

I've considered both, but here's where I'm hitting a wall:Property manager: Financially, this seems like a significant chunk of the rental income going towards management fees.

I have good monthly income and available personal credit to float any monthly payments and even the repairs, its really the downpayment. 

Maximize your income (work your a$$ off), limit your expenses (live off of nothing), and think long term. 

And at the least, you may have stumbled onto another way to create income! 

In the US, anything with four units or less is financed using comps, not the income approach.

I'm a newbie long-distance investor and I'm just in the early research stage of buying my first income property.

Great rental income, great location, great tenants.  

You need to know the NOI, expenses, how much you can increase income, your leverage and the rate.