Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

The move-out is likely to go more quickly and more smoothly if the tenant isn't worried about the extra time and dollars involved when it comes to working with the confines of a lease.Good luck!

Hopefully everything goes smoothly once the tenants are screened and rent is coming in. 

@Bryan Hiyas, I have provided funding on many double closings handled by @Shannon Wright  I can vouch for her; she knows how to make the closing go very smoothly.

I hope it went smoothly and you were able to get solid returns. 

Listen to Real Estate podcasts (BP included) and buy/rent from the library some books to give you a glimpse into some of the questions and answers you may have not even considered up to this point.I hope your first rental goes smoothly!

To me it's just semantics...I'm not too worried about what they call me as long as I focus on keeping my business running smoothly,  In my opinion, you have a good newbie "problem" on your hands...I anticipate the problems get worse as time goes on :)  Good luck on your journey!

The mere fact that I was documenting everything convinced the broker I was serious & it made things go smoothly.

This one went pretty smooth but the timeline on the renovation ballooned past expectation due to some contractor issues and that presented some challenges.  

You'll need a much lower priced property with some value add or larger equity spread, and also have the funds to make the payments in case it doesn't play out so smoothly, or there's delays getting renters/lease-option buyers, etc...