For that reason alone I would choose a SFH always over a condo.

Verify their source of income....look at how the treat their car...and....cross your fingers..or look for another tenant...remember..people rent for a reason...

I have about four savings account which totals a little over 3k for different reasons like Emergency (2k), Travel (1k), a credit union saving (~300+), and investments (~350 and adding [Had more but I spent it some stuff to educate myself and get started with the stock market.

You have a little bit of an information advantage most sellers don't... buyer is acquiring for a reason, it's not just random, you have a record of what prices this single buyer has been buying the other units. 

The average income of people who live in these areas is also reasonable.

There are plenty of different reasons a place can stay vacant that may not be realized righy awat.

The reason why is those who tell you it is passive are not being honest.

Three times usually works if your demand is reasonable and the tenant feels an obligation to pay you.

Not sure of the rules if they move out early for a voluntary transfer versus being shipped out for war reasons.

I personally took the classes to get a license and was planning on actually completing my license, (though never did because I moved to CA), in MA for a few reasons. 1) The cost was low, I think I only paid about $400 for the course.2) The time commitment was low, you only need to complete 40 hours of instruction.3) If I wanted to get a license, I could do so and hang it with a broker simply to help myself with my own process of accessing the MLS and being more self sufficient.Having completed the course I can tell you that you will learn nuances to real estate that you didn't already know.