The big hurdle you will have to overcome is qualifying for particular price points.  

My only experiences with Detroit area are through friends that purchased low priced homes there years ago also I am not qualified for advice on that front, but do have SFR, turnkey, and commercial experience and think those could be great options for you.

As Brittany referenced, you do not need a two year history in order to utilize the income in qualifying, in fact you can use the income with no tax filing in certain cases.

A piece of advise if he lays hands on you or your son immediately go to court and see if it qualifies for a peace order or similar. 

Weeks later found another buyer, barely qualified, a pain to work with, does not respond half the time, red flags all over, seller is motivated.

Higher loan balances we would likely see an opportunity in the future to refinance again due to lower rates so consider a 2-3 year prepayment penalty.Of course if you qualify for Conventional Financing (Fannie/Freddie), there are no prepayment penalties so just calculating out the return of investment timeline on point buy downs.Good luck shopping and let me know if you want to talk further!

Unless it required specific cable to be run only to run that piece of equipment does it qualify.

The problem many of us run into is being in New England, many of the markets are high cost, high appreciation markets that we either can't get pre qualified for, or even after moving out will struggle to cash flow.Another big constraint is that many of us have W-2 jobs in engineering that require some days in the office, and these types of higher paying jobs are primarily in major cities (most of us are in the Boston area).Lastly, a lot of us have significant others that may be less interested in living somewhere "random" because it makes sense as an investment.

A local investor will be best equipped to get repairs and renovation done at fair prices, set rents at appropriate levels, and help select qualified tenants.

Would I still be able to qualify for this?