You can also find many examples in the forums of people experiencing poor valuations due to lack of comps.

I have personally worked with @Wale Lawal and he is awesome. 

While this job could be performed remotely, working with my peers in person for at least a year is important to me.

The question is mostly a personal financial planning question and it depends on your preference and what balance of risk and access you'd like and would be comfortable with.

Personally, I'd start looking in markets you're familiar with, similar to what you said in your post.

Personally I would want to manage the rental myself at least in the beginning to make sure you get good ratings.

I don’t think that is the person this sort of situation is meant for.

I personally hate them and think they are little more dust magnets but will add some if crucial. :) 

You can find some diamonds in the rough don't get me wrong but if you aren't experienced enough to see red flags in the property/ transaction they can be costly. 4.

@Shawn Questa I agree with you that there could be some opportunity here, but personally, with that little equity in the property, I'd wait for the pre-foreclosure process to start and  perhaps you can do a short sale (though I don't know the details on how that's handled in TX).