Sorry I don't get back until late, I work third shift so this is my awake time.

Is it as lucrative as society makes it to be?

Is it as lucrative as society makes it to be?

The crawl also appears to be quite moist, since there weren't any vapor barriers set up to prevent moisture from building up.I am worried that over time the soil could shift, causing the supports to give way.

I am still looking, and trying to shift my strategy to rent by the room/house hacking.

Historically the economy has shifted before, new jobs in new industries get created in placement of the outdated ones.

"My son owns four houses" or "my son owns and rents out six apartments" is a very powerful, complaint-stopping statement in American society.

One approach might be to rehab the property like you otherwise would, which would include repairing the exterior to cover the crawlspace appropriately, and perhaps improve the drainage near and around the foundation to prevent soil erosion/shifting.  

I've done all this while maintaining a full time job working shift work.

“We are seeing significant demographic shifts that will lead to more renters.”While this is good news there are still concerns if the building happens to quick.