Buy with enough margin of safety and you'll be fine in any market... 

No legal access, no water, floodways, hazardous waste, or utilities a hundred miles away are just some of the things that can make the property have little or no value.

No job means no safety net so when the flip hits the skids you will not recover.

.- I recently passed on a house that has a methlab in it that had high levels of some hazardous chemicals that seeped down to the studs.- I have stayed away from homes that have fire damagePlease let me know what issues you see the most profit to be gained from and the ones that you just don't want to handle.

You have a good inspector.The Al wiring needs to be replaced & I've seen a lot of it in Florida when we were buying down there & the arcing is a fire safety issue, (wish I still had the old pics I took).The 2 prong ungrounded outlets will all need to be replaced & rewired back to the respective panel(s) for each unit.

Your inspector will look for structural integrity issues, life safety issues/fire hazards and inspect your MEP Systems to make sure Electrical panel, wiring, piping, hot water heater & HVAC systems are acceptable/good working condition.Roof/Crawlspace/Attic InspectionsIf you are afraid of heights and don't want to get on the roof, crawl around in a dirty creepy crawl space or climb around in a haunted attic, an inspector can inspect these areas.  

I do only have this one house, and I keep very detailed records, but I realize there are suddenly a bunch of tax rules that may affect me and I know little about.Should I have a home inspection done to determine any code issues or safety issues to correct prior to converting the property to a rental?

Go with a location that you're comfortable with... distance from you, safety and cash flow.

LBP is not hazardous if undisturbed and if you paint over it (encapsulate) it virtually negates any hazards that my be present.

Safety first.