He probably knows everybody in Aberdeen  by name:).Personally, If I am to invest in Aberdeen I would first do an up-fornt investment and hire a property manager and a handyman.

I have 2 credit cards and a auto loan.

It can be harder to manage over an hour and a half away and even with the lower rents it takes a while to find good tenants because people there just don't make as much--and we don't allow dogs, which many people in the country have. 

It includes a both a year-by-year mode (10 years); and a month-by-month mode (24 months) designed with re-habbers in mind.

Specific to the underlined portion below  "However, tenants who would otherwise have protected status may be evicted if the unit is the only rental unit owned by the landlord in the building"- how would this impact a duplex where the new owner moves into one unit and a protected tenant is in the other unit?

Unless you want to pay all cash, use leverage and a 20% down payment has you in the $250-300k ballpark.

@Khaled Helmi, the best advice I can give (although you may not like it- I know I didn't) is to get (or find one for bidding and vetting purposes) a set of plans you're happy with and a list of specs and bid it out to different builders/subcontractors.  

On the last one, there may be recourse if there was clear misrepresentation in writing, but that's a matter for attorneys.In reality, your only recourse may be a slam on turnkey-reviews.com and a learning experience.Definitely replace management with a trusted local.Good luck.

I figure doing both will give me options in 15 & 17 years when the kids head to college, depending on the state of the real estate market, stock market, interest rates. tax rates and a host of other considerations. 

You can learn a lot that way, and a path will open up for you to find your niche in your real estate market.