I've been in combat and had friends die in front of me.

@Paige Losack Hi Paige, there've been some good suggestions already, I've found that attending a few area REI meetups and seeing who are the "boots on the ground" PM's that other lenders are using can be helpful.  

And some people here have no recourse to combat that because of their socioeconomic situation.

If you don't have one, partner with someone who does and be their boots on the ground.

Being boots on the ground yourself you can work with local contractors if any issue should arise. 

I spent 5 hours in which I researched the market, the little bit if info that I had (this is a very distressed situation), called my management contacts with boots on the ground in the geographical vicinity, and finally built a pro-forma based on available information.According to my underwriting, the stabilized operation of this particular asset would result in negative gearing NOI to the tune of $120,000/year...Let me say that again:Even after everything is functioning as it should, this asset would still be loosing $120,000 of NOI!  

I plan to continue living in San Diego, CA and have not yet made any contacts in San Antonio so right now my main priority is networking and trying to assemble a team (Broker , contractors, property management, boots on the ground).

By teaming up with a solid firm you can mitigate your risk and have some "boots on the ground" that have your best interest in mind. 

Or you didn't want to deal with the headache of a combative tenant trying to drag the process out?

I don't think there's a substitute for having great, competent boots on the ground, but you'll also have to make time to visit every now and then yourself.