Worried about investing in a bad area (buy and hold)

[Alex Silang]

I'm a newbie and 'd like to invest in the city of Worcester, MA, which is about an hour away from home. That's the only way I can make the rent/mortgage ratio work. I've also heard good things from 2 separate investors (one a professional) about Worcester. This is for buy and hold.

Like any city, there are good parts and bad parts. I'm working to determine which part is which. This is from online research, plus from meetups. Some people are saying online that there is a lot of variation within the neighborhoods. It's hard to tell from online posts/forums because the city has a reputation. I can't tell if some of the post I've found are credible.

My question is, where should I draw the line in the sand? Many areas of Worcester have higher crime rates than the US average. I'll be using a management company (I've read a lot of landlords in Worcester are absentee). I'm mostly worried about falling RE values (if my neighborhood goes from okay to bad) and higher maintenance (delinquent rents, more repairs, etc.)

Higher costs might be taken into account with a higher cashflow. I'm just saying I'd be willing to take a haircut in ROI if it meant less risk and less headache.

At what point is a neighborhood "bad" enough that it becomes a major issue? I was thinking - if I'm a good landlord (repairs made in a timely manner, follow laws, don't screw tenants) renting at a fair price in an okay neighborhood, there is nothing wrong with that. And I'm not saying I need to invest in a place where every house is freshly painted. I just don't want to get screwed.

What sort of things should I consider?