You aren't missing anything.  

The thing is, I don't know what my next unit is, and I am a big believer on starting something even if you aren't ready to gain experience earlier rather than later than sitting back to find the "perfect deal" that never comes because you never pulled the trigger to get started.

It’s landlord-focused and covers pretty much everything you mentioned — tenant screening, custom rental applications (so you aren’t stuck with a rigid template), lease creation, rent collection, and maintenance tracking.

That should not be taken lightly.This is very well said.I think the other thing that investors get used to ignoring is the fact that most contractors do not operate with huge quantities of cash, and they work in a very transparent and competitive market.In other words - if I estimate with too high of a differential margin high, then I won't work at all.

Oddly, these aren’t counted as additional “estimates,” though, so the core number is 3.Beyond the Quarterly Estimates: Ongoing RevisionsAfter the third estimate, GDP data undergoes further updates through 2 main types of revisions, which can alter the numbers multiple times over many years.

The investors are claiming they gave all the reimburstment funds to the agent/P.M. and aren't getting answers from him as to where the money went. 

Most newer investors aren't liquid enough to be able to even consider true appreciation plays and often end up buying C and B- properties.

I’ve found once someone is more than 2 weeks late they usually aren’t getting caught back up.

you will not make any money in the early years of ownership - none.  5-7 years would be a stabilization period and it's only after that that you might start replenishing those funds.for example, here are some cautionary tales from other folks who rushed into a "better investment" out of state:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1242392-rough...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/432/topics/1231840-sell...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/840134-memph...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...finally, buying a primary residence and looking into an out of state market aren't mutually exclusive. 

you are going to have to get it appraised - and previous appraisals, and anyone's thoughts on it, aren't relevant.