Outside of the trades there is very little good work.Bucks,westchester and Lancaster all have much better employment rates,median incomes and lower vacancies.  

Stephanie Bureau yes that is possible if you can find a tenant willing to risk the short term nature of the initial lease.One case where it might work is employment related rentals.

I'm an employed, high income earner, looking at buy and hold real-estate as a means to diversify my investments and generate passive income.  

In fact, while the number of people employed declined in Dallas in September, 14,300 new jobs were created in Indianapolis.

Residents are employed and working.

Convincing them living in Detroit is a better option than living in Fraser, Westland, Auburn Hills.People are going to switch employers every 2-3 years in todays economy so distance to work matters.  

One more random question: Do lenders generally call employers?

I live in CT where some large employers are moving out and the population is decreasing.

I am self employed and earn a fair portion of my income in USD, so the conversion rate isn't quite as much of an issue for me as for some. 

Taxable social security and tier 1 railroad retirement benefits.Deductible contributions to individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and section 501(c)(18) pension plans.The exclusion from income of interest from qualified U.S. savings bonds used to pay qualified higher education expenses.The exclusion from income of amounts received from an employer's adoption assistance program.Passive activity income or loss included on Form 8582.Any rental real estate loss allowed because you materially participated in the rental activity as a Real Estate Professional (as discussed later, under Activities That Aren’t Passive Activities ).