Asking directly to those who have owned 10+ properties before, thanks in advance to those who answer or tag those who can.

One of my good childhood mentors and his wife built up a nice portfolio of 30+ homes in a secondary market in the midwest. They have fully managed every single rental together with the help of just one rehap guy. My mentor was great at finding distressed properties for 20-60k, and utilizing his HVAC and plumbing skills to get them rentable. 

Fast forward a few years and now, he and his wife are in their 60's, are tired of managing and want to simplify. 

Simple solution: get a property manager right? They have tried and the only managers that they have found give them second preference to their favorite properties and overcharge (paying themselves a healthy hourly wage, taking 3.5 hrs for a simple window fix that takes 1 tops)

I advised that they sell the properties and invest the equity into passive multifamily syndications. The only problem is, their area hasn't seen much appreciation since they bought the properties so there isn't a lot of equity to be had.

Solution 1: Keep tracking down the right management company (in small-town) until they can negotiate the right terms and accept that they'll only get $100-300 free cash flow per property per month.

Solution 2: Sell homes all at once, invest what little equity there is passively into syndications.

Solution 3: Sell homes one by one, invest what little equity there is passively into syndications.

BTW - They have tried all three of these solutions so if someone can give specifics on one or provide another I'd be thrilled.

I'm excited to hear from those who have successfully done this before.