I read the posts from my phone whenever I have down time.

I personally feel this market is very stable and not over valued, lots of positive job growth ever year, crime is low.During the last 15 years has our market really changed much during the down times? 

Would it be worth it to you to face the possibility of big $$$ in make ready costs, eviction costs and the possibility of lost rent due to down time to replace them ?  

On Nov. 30 the family member in Abilene collected keys from the old tenant and on Dec. 1 changed the locks and gave the new key to the new tenant leaving us with no down time and no pro-rated rent!

Granted I am taking the down time to clean up and make minor improvements.

I work nights at an oil refinery as an industrial electrician and there is lots of downtime, thus I've been doing loads of research and so far have read:"Start Small, Profit Big in Real Estate: Fixer Jay's 2-Year Plan for Building Wealth - Starting from Scratch""Investing in Fixer-Uppers : A Complete Guide to Buying Low, Fixing Smart, Adding Value, and Selling (or Renting) High"Both titles by Jay Decima (which were both good, informative reads)and am currently reading "Property Management Kit For Dummies".I'm currently set to close on my first home (for living purposes, NOT RENTAL) May, 8th.

I've built these relationships over the years to where I know have a steady supply of deals that come my way so I typically don't have too much 'downtime' with ongoing projects.Since you have an abundance of time, you may consider doing some of your own marketing to locate your own deals organically and really be able to find some deals with huge equity...

West Akron is often popular.Akron has been relatively stable even during the down times. 

I've been trying to look for possible investments in my down time to get a feel for what I should be looking for.

I've gone through 2 property cycles and During a strong market people will tell you to wait because prices are high and during the down times people will tell you to prices will never recover.