Purchasing first rental property out of town

[Brent Harasym]

Hello everything, this is my first post here. Here is the situation.

I am new to this and have done my homework for weeks now on all the do's, don'ts and all the necessary precautions. This will be my first rental property, however it is in a small town(my hometown) 4 hours away from the current city I live in.

The house is currently owned by my friend that I have gone through school/highschool with. It has been very well maintained and the pride of ownership shows. He is also throwing in all his furniture. All bedrooms, living room, basement, kitchen and patio set included.

The asking price of this property including all the belongings is $68,000, property taxes are $2100 a year. I know have been talking with the current owner of this house and he has had people asking to rent his house and willing to pay $1200 a month rent

Another thing to note this is a very good neighborhood. 3 cops live on the street, and a public school is literally a 30 second walk.

My mother also the next door neighbor and would be able to keep tabs on the property for me while I am not in town.

Thoughts on this as a first rental property given the circumstances?