@Bret Habura just catching up on some posts.

Before to invest outside of your state, I would travel to that location to see everything with my own eye, meet people;  again if you are new to real estate you may not grasp another market too quickly.

It spoke to me like I was looking at my life from a bird's eye view. 

We will correct any problems found within the first seven days because we can't catch everything.

Look for the flippers/brokers/multi-family folks and just offer to help them...even if it's you will keep your eyes out for a deal for them.

Keep an eye on the market, you've got time...  

It may not be earned income for everybody since that is active income and you'd have to get your passive income to become active, e.g. being able to classify as a Real Estate Professional in the eyes of the IRS.Look at it this way. 

The ability to drive by the property and keep an eye on management and contractors was very valuable.

The catch 22s with section 8 homes are mainly to do with the Administration itself -- you'll have an annual inspection of the home and a responsibility to fix anything the inspector finds (which, BTW, when is the last time an inspector walked through a property and said, "Looks good, I'm outta here?" 

First, the previous homeowners hid several things throughout the house that the inspector did not or could not catch.