(We live abroad so can't be in person to negotiate the process.) 

You will just likely be looking at a LOT of houses to find one that is marginal, at least for my return needs.Secondly, along these lines: in the neighborhoods I know and invest in, the demand from retail buyers is still very high, and inventory is low.  

A lot of my friends and other new grad young professionals seem to congregate in areas like Midtown and lower Manhattan or in Williamsburg/Bushwick and Downtown Brooklyn.I know house hacking isn't impossible in NYC, but my most ideal areas with people my age and high traffic are also everyone else's ideal places to live, and are much harder to house hack.

My personal goal would be to keep the tenant even if the unit was in rough shape, and just get to the bottom of the late rent thing

Thanks,Steve Hiltabiddle   OR WA CA OH IN GA NV AZ MO are states I participated in as a funder for court house steps sales.

@Guy Idan  The basic problem I see for a person starting out in syndication deals, you often have a  $25K, $50K  minimum investment.

So which of these houses should I live in? 

Focus on saving up and doing a house hack.

I actually posted an ad as there was a lot of stuff in the house.

-How is this any different than simply leasing out individual rooms, or a guest house in a single family home?