PM for one half of duplex while living in the other??

[Kyle Falkenstein]

My wife and I are going to be closing on our first RI which is a Duplex in Jacksonville, NC. We are inheriting a tenant that has been in there for 15 years, is paying $695/mo, she’s on a month to month lease and is talking about possibly getting out because she is starting to have trouble getting up and down stairs. She is currently going through a management company and neither party has had any issue with each other. That being said it brings me three questions.

-Once my wife and I move in should we continue using a PM for the other half? (I’m currently active duty Marine Corps, we are about to have our first child in less than a month and my wife plans on working shortly after our son arrives)

-Should we raise the rent on the inherited tenant? I was going to raise it to $750 once we move in and then increase to market value which is around $850-$950 next year. Thoughts on that?

-If lose the tenant should we continue with a PM? My wife would like to due to having such a loaded plate of me being active duty, having a new born and her eventually going back to work. I wanted to manage it ourselves to save the money and to gain the experience but at the same time I don’t want to stress my wife out with it all. Thoughts on that as well?