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

A lot of people startIng out have this Idea that investing In buy and hold rentals wIll be totally passive and smooth .

It’s been smooth, the team I chose and work with is great, from their customer service, to their property management.

Be on site, make sure it goes smoothly, sign for everything.

The "team" of the buyer is just as or more important in making sure everything moves smoothly .

Everything is going smooth so far.

I would NOT recommend starting bigger to a someone just out of school who is going to have minimal to no reserves but someone with other business experience, used to managing projects and people and has the financial reserves if things don't go smoothly (especially at first!)

Even if the tenant felt the need to move at that juncture, it would be their decision to do so and the transition would likely go more smoothly.

With my strong current W-2 and great credit and now him jumping at the chance to work with me I'm feeling really strong about 2019, even 4th QTR 2018 if I can get the Divroce to end quickly and smoothly, which it's on a decent course to do. 

Since you mentioned you'll still be getting financing this means you will have more borrowers and people on title then just yourself which means you will need their full cooperation at all times to complete actions smoothly.