My husband and I (ok...my husband) are pretty handy, so we aren't afraid of doing a lot of work ourselves, and I know dealing Iowa winters will mean we need to take some precautionary measures, but it seems like low cost of entry for investing (we just got our first SFH this fall)

Make sure the numbers so that if you put in 60k to 70k you're getting some sort of annual net profit so you aren't having to feed the investment. 

You increase rents every year rents aren’t dropping.

So the house sits on the market and the sellers aren't disclosing the issue - which was one of just many.) 

I have read on the internet that some parts are and some parts aren't safe.

And be sure you have the ability to fire them at will and settle up so if they aren't progressing how you would expect, you can move on without paying huge penalties or in some cases not having any way of being able to fire them at all (some of the builders' contracts are ridiculously in their favor). 

Maybe it can be a little cheaper on subsequent deals, if you aren't changing much.Loan apps: while you may be able to have some investor money funded before this is due, you may not.  

If the overall damages aren’t worth their time and effort in court costs and legal fees, then they likely won't subrogate against your neighbor's insurance policy.If suing and subrogation aren’t viable options, then I like Jeff’s idea about speaking with your neighbor and splitting the cost of removal of the tree may be the best way forward.

these deals aren't on Zillow - they're usually off market.

If you are wanting to manage someone else's property and aren't even local to the property you aren't adding much value.