@Adam Widder If you want to be an investor and do not want to wait 2 or more years to start from the day you get back then you should also be concerned with your type of employment. 

Ended up causing a major clog that resulted in two plumbers being there all day and a $1200 bill.

She mentioned declaring bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure but I know I read (here I think)  that while it would do that, it will cause other issues.

God will be the least of your concerns if your bank finds out.

I was pretty much the same situation as you are in, except i did not think quick enough about the additional pre-close negotiations mentioned above.In my case time after closing i dove in to set expectations and address/remediate all concerns from the previous landlord, and since then i haven't had any troubles.Thank you for the post!

They are leaches and will likely cause considerable stress compared to your past 4 years with your tenant.

I'm not concerned.

There are a lot of good training certifications for dogs out there now that could potentially help in easing concerns about a dog's destruction level.

@Ranga Ramanathan Property taxes are going to be a major concern for NW Chicago suburbs. 

Once you have the inspection post anything that concerns you on this thread and people can chime in and let you know if the issues are serious or not.