Nervous to buy 2nd Investment - lot of empty rentals

[Kel S]

We may have an opportunity to purchase another investment home. It's a nice house and while it does need a bit of work (enclosed back porch roof is leaking) so will probably need the back roof section replaced.

However, I'm a bit nervous to dive into another one and the reason is because I'm hearing and seeing a lot of rental houses sitting vacant. I know the time of year is probably a factor but I also talked to another investor who mentioned that he has 7 of his apartments sitting vacant and that is a high number for him. He said it's costly because he still has to keep them all heated while vacant.

This is in the Toledo, Ohio area and I keep hoping that it's just the time of year that is keeping the rentals empty. But my fear is there isn't a huge amount of jobs here and Ohio and MI (right across the border) have been hit hard by the downturn in the economy.

Anyone have any thoughts? Are my fears unfounded? Do any of you own rentals in areas where there aren't an abundance of jobs, etc., My concern is ending up not being able to rent it.

I guess I'm looking for a bit of confidence that buying another will be the right move OR that perhaps this area may not be the best to buy in further. Would be so much easier to just have a crystal ball to predict the future but since I don't I thought I'd come see what you all think.