Until recently, they were collecting rents in person, but they are no longer able to, due to advancing age and disability.Does anyone out there please have some candidate property management companies, that are reputable and honest, and would be willing to service this level/number of apartments?

I’d keep it simple and say that nobody really knows if and when the next crash will happen, especially looking at the local level.

Simple answer is they just base it on per square feet and construction quality level.

And finally, with regard to your concern to banks caring about your education level.....they don't.

To get your business going I would suggest Miracle Morning for Real Estate Agents followed by 7L: The Seven Levels of Communication and then The One Thing.

My strategy is to use base level finishes whole leasing it and replace with upgraded finishes once I'm ready to sell it in 7-10 years.

It took me years and hundrets of deals to get to the level where I am.

I personally don't pay an extreme amount of attention to marco trends (yet) because I am not investing on a macro level yet.I am more focused on the trends of the area I am investing in (Chicago in my case) and like you, for my first handful of deals I prefer to be close to them.  

The competition is apartment complexes where I'll have full control, and that is a level of security that I just can't pass by. 

My main pro for it, is that at my income level, I think paying corporate taxes for the rental income with a C corporation would be less than paying it as pass through income i.e. personal income tax.