Having a long-term rental while living abroad is do-able.Flipping houses while abroad, in my opinion, more difficult, especially if its your first go around with real estate.I would recommend taking a flight and staying in the area for a week and inspect the neighborhoods and make connections.You can reach out to @Elenis Camargo who has a PM company in Jacksonville.Best of luck though.

Now the situation has occurred that we need to rent the house out in order to help pay for his long term care expenses. 

Highlight the property’s unique features (off-grid, sustainable) and the area’s growth potential to show long-term value.

I’m based in Utah and plan to invest in long-term rentals in UT, OK, and/or TX.

This strategy can be a game-changer for building long-term wealth, as it enables you to leverage your gains without an immediate tax hit.Example: Sell a rental property for $300,000, reinvest in a new property of equal or greater value, and defer capital gains taxes indefinitely.5.

I think your clients should think about this as short-term funding that they would need to pay back rather than a long-term solution for capital.

I can only come out of pocket to cover mortgage so long.  

Qualified applicants that get priced out of rapidly improving neighborhoods will move into these areas but it seems like they aren’t biting.High quality, lower income applicants aren’t stupid and they won’t settle.If you think this area is a losing proposition, I would think about selling and not banking on hope.In regard to vacancy, I don’t consider any area that has average occupancy (economic and physical) below 95%You might pay more for a better area but time will treat you right and you’ll make a ton of money in equity over the long term.

Can they prove how long it takes to rent a vacant property?

Seems like an uphill battle and as Jay pointed out it would be a long, expensive process that tends to favor the seller (judges don't take forcing people to sell their property lightly).