If I were you I would do test ads to see how the demand is on filling vacancies. 

Second question, Should I go toward the top of my budget (qualified at $260,000 and currently looking at properties near that amount) at the start, or should I scale back and do a smaller property a little further away to test the waters and gain some experience with finding and managing tenants, but will allow me to easily afford the mortgage in the event of vacancy.Any advice, or criticism, would be greatly appreciated.

I would set up the numbers in excel and stress test my assumptions (i.e. run scenarios with cost being 10% to 50%+ more) and see if I can take the loss.

Most of the homes selling for bargain prices now are in the Adamsville/Bolton Rd areas or way down in 30315 near Dekalb county...the two most outermost corners of the city and of course, those homes are in terrible shape quality wise.Not much of a super statistical analysis, but using the eye test, inventory is way down and the homes available are not really attractive (with or without renovations).

Can you test the waters first by trying to sell it now and plan B would be to flip?

Regardless of where it’s located I would test for Meth use if you move forward with the purchase. 

Usually they test you like children, even the good ones.

I stress test all of my deals to make sure they can still hit my target returns based on the assessment calculator the assessor uses. 

This is way more effective than trying to memorize the entire book on your own (note: the state administers the test so the instructor won't know exactly what's on the test, but I'd say he was pretty accurate in pointing out what was eventually on it. 

This will test your patience because of banks take their time as well.