Great question, and honestly the lack of documentation is where most self-managing landlords get burned.

Hello everyone, I’ve been speaking with landlords/ property managers to better understand the operational challenges they’re facing and if they resolved it, then how did they do it.

Are you properly licensed to be a 3rd party manager in Tennessee?

Two are fully paid off, one is almost paid off, and rest have significant principals left on the mortgage. 7 houses are currently rented and have lease contract with me and my wife. 6 renters are paying rent to us directly and a third party property management company is managing the 7th property. 3 houses are recently purchased and are listed for rent.I have already created an LLC and opened a bank account in its name.

Is anyone using a PM software to self manage?

So I built the thing I wished existed.We’re now managing 20 doors — mostly single-family and small multi — and focusing on treating these properties like assets, not headaches.

You may want to make a list of your concerns and request an appointment with the company owner or operations manager.- How they respond to and follow thru on this request will tell you a LOT about their professionalism. 

@Seth Quade this is probably a company decision -> probably due to a recent lawsuit from a tenant that cost them thousands to defend, and maybe lost.Recommend you ask them what Atlanta or Georgia laws are driving their decision. 

Quote from @Mark Soreco: I don't have any data on this company, but I will give you some insight on a story I heard from a guy who built a PM company across the nation to 5,000 units then sold it to a tech company that thought they were going to do a ton of great stuff on adding in tech and everything else.

So, the 500+ hours you worked could potentially count for this year.Once you hire a property management company, it can be harder to meet material participation requirements, but if you're still heavily involved in maintaining and updating the property, it could help.