they told us the borrower is not allowed to choose a title company we have to use theirs. 

When choosing tenants (I am in California), it's important to avoid even the appearance of discrimination, especially during in-person meetings.

Then you can choose to get a roommate to make extra money.  

This means that if you pay off the loan too early, then you'll pay a 1-5% fee off the loan amount. paying off the loan early means you either refinance or you sell the property, both would trigger a prepayment penalty to the lender. that being said, you can choose your prepay options, 5yr usually giving you a better interest rate by like a 0.25%, 3yr being most common and standard, and a 0,1,2 yr where you can buy down the prepay to be less years. meaning you pay 1% upfront of the loan amount to get a 1yr prepayment penalty so you're free to sell the property or refi after 1yr. 

Then do a thorough research on tenant applicants (note: leaving this to a PM may be hazardous to your financial health) and choose the one that is most “stable” with the best potential for long term tenancy.This advice is contrary to maximization of rental income, but IMO will reduce expenses of tenant turnover, property damage, property management fees so much that the difference in bottom line income will be quite small.  

Why did you choose to invest in the South and not in Pittsburgh itself?

If you and your wife are on the same page, I say absolutely go for it.Don't worry about the naysayers telling you to invest out of state if that's not something you're comfortable with right now.

It’s wise to start with breaking even and ensure you're comfortable with the costs involved.Happy to connect if you'd like to discuss more!

If I choose to rent, I might make around $200 - $500 a month.

I know you want to go full time and jump in, but I'd recommend staying with your day job as long as you can - it makes your life a lot more comfortable to have a steady stream of income to pay the bills every month!