I'm active duty Air Force, and have property managers onalmost all of my properties because it's tough to manage the rehab ofa broken sewer line from Afghanistan (trust me)!

As to the neighbor's property, the utility will have a service easement, air rights, necessary to provide service to customers.

And I just changed all her lightbulbs as they were all out and her age prevented her from changing them.

When we opened up the property it had the usual junk in it along with a car left in the driveway, tires had air but it looks like it hadn't moved in a long time so assume it doesn't run.  

While it may not be 100% foolproof, many (or almost all) of the tenant travails, travesties, and disasters that you read about can be prevented with proper tenant selection.

Jessica - I though the NJ Anti-Eviction Act prevented landlords from evicting without just cause.  

Some tenants will sabotage showings to prevent a sale because they are afraid the new Landlord won't be as nice.

People here have turned to boats as an alternative to crazy high rent and some even use it as Air BnB

Do I need to upgrade gas forced air to central air system?

The property has some exterior issues that will most likely prevent us from obtaining a traditional landlord or home owners insurance policy.