Barring a nationwide plunge like in 2009, diversification across markets is a good risk-mitigation toolIf you are looking for a more passive investment, going the Turnkey route on an OOS property sort of forces you to actually be pretty passive.

I think interest rates aren't impacting cap rates nearly as much as some are saying.

Is it an important enough factor to impact it getting rented out and future potential for appreciation?

The property are not always seized or forcefully liquidated in ch 7's as this comes down to property equity, creditors, etc. 

You can't force someone to buy a property from you via lawsuit, not to mention the amount of money you'll ultimately spend on legal fees makes it not worth it.

In addition, it can be helpful to stipulate in the agreement that a portion of the proceeds from the sale will remain in escrow until he has vacated AND if you are forced to proceed with eviction the money can be used towards that. depending on the selling price, $5-$10k outta be enough to convince him to move his stuff out.

Areas up near Ogden and Hill Air Force base always seem to have a fairly strong rental market, but I don't know where you should and shouldn't be. 

I am fairly new and am trying to really stretch my marketing/education budget - so what were the most impactful, bang for your buck experiences?

If your credit is good and your debt to income is good I dont imagine that a 13k loan will make any negative impact on you qualifying for the loan2.

@Christopher Petersen unless we have negative population growth there will be at least as many people as there are now, and if we did have negative population growth it would have a much larger impact on things like Social Security than RE.