I have rode 3 bust cycles, and lost far far more in stocks and bonds then anywhere else in my life ever.

Then rent it out for a couple of years and ultimately 1031 into another property in a nicer area and then they cycle will repeat itself every FEW years (so we are not looking at multiple buying/flipping).

What you should do is go out there and walk through a few before and few in the middle of process and a few after's and then see how good the work is in person.. instead of e mails back and forth..having been on the selling side of RE for years and working with buyers or investors there can be a point that too many questions can drive you nuts and you may respond with something a little stronger than intended.People will ask the silliest questions..I just sold a house to a family from Sri Lanka ( new build) and the son drove me absolutely bonkers by the end of the build cycle 5 months 600k semi custom I finally just ignored him and would not respond to one stupid question after another.One was we were standing out on the side yard and I was telling him were the fence gate would go and he asked me if I was going to take the gate and fence and attaché it to the side fence..

Never buy a rental home that won't appreciate (and buy in bottom part of cycle or starting to mid uptrend). 

I think this far in this cycle would be the worst time to start leveraging.

They are not designed as a primary heat source but so far they seem to do better than window air conditioners that operate in reverse cycle.

Once you get out of the market cycle (summer to summer), it can be hard to get back in.

The marketing cost per deal in this area is much higher than in other markets and the sales cycle is much longer, which can create a tough barrier to entry because you need a much longer runway of cash/time to invest before you start seeing any returns. 

At the end of the day, I don't know that you can ever completely avoid it from happening, but you can take actions to reduce the occurence.The vacancy period between tenants is almost always the most expensive part of the rental cycle.

Everything goes through cycles.