If your rural PA I think you have one of the better areas to be in.. in our area .. lack of inventory and intense pressure leads to frustration.

After looking at many houses in person, and running lots of numbers, we have decided to tackle less time-intensive jobs to start (we both work full time).

Once that is done it should be a really good money maker though.At $450 rent (again, same as mine) you're dealing with a pretty management intensive tenant base.

So while you may be doing repairs for a larger number of units, you're starting off with a lot less profit per unit to begin with.And I still go back to those larger properties being a lot more management intensive.

For all intensive purposes we look like any other management company.

Many of the labor intensive jobs are no longer here. 

If you do choose to invest remotely, I would say that you should pay up to buy in quality neighborhoods ... your cash flow will look lower day 1 on paper, but these type of neighborhoods lend themselves much better to remote investing as they are less management intensive, more hands off and passive, less turnover, less operational risk, and hold (and grow) their value much better.

I need a mound system which will be ugly and more maintenance intensive.

If someone proves responsible, you can offer a longer term lease for a lessor amount and back off on the supervision.Rooming houses are more management intensive, but have greater profitability. 

Flips - Large Capital Income - Much bigger checks, capital intensive, bigger risk longer time frame fewer checks but big checks when you get them.Notes / Rentals - Passive Income - We all know what this is.Focus on what income stream is generated by an activity not so much what that activity is then figure out how to combine them to most efficiently reach your goals while providing a safety net if things turn south.