And it costs a couple hundred dollars a year to maintain. 

Feel free to call me eight four three - three hundred - two eight four two.

would help if you delineated what your new to and what you need help with.but a good start for any beginner is the local REIA meetings they are full of beginners like you.mid stride folks and the one's who are doing very well who go there to find bird dogs and deals for little to no effort  LOL.And or if you really want in the business then go pay a few hundred bucks and get your RE pre license materials study take the test pass the test and go work for a broker who specializes in whatever aspect of real estate your interested in.. be in SFR  Multi  Commerical  leasing...

It costs money to send out someone and assuming she owes around the 55K you believe, they are for sure not going to pay a couple hundred for the possibility of losing another 45K.

As for other houses I'm looking at i see some that are listed for hundreds of days.

It had HUNDREDS of threads about stories just like yours.The number one question when someone posted the problem and asked how to avoid it in the future:Tell us about your tenant screening process.

As to resale, it's hard for me to say from hundreds of miles away whether it might make a good flip or not.

Based on the pictures of the house it will need a lot of rehab (no kitchen cabinets, no appliances, missing tubs, sinks, toilets).

Making a couple hundred dollars a month on individual single family homes seems like a slower way to go than acquiring 150 "doors" through a few medium size multi-family properties.Thanks in advance to anyone that takes the time to read this and share any wisdom you have!

I think you need to be "immersed in it" as you get started and thats harder to do if the property is hundreds of miles away and your in a 9-5.