They love it because they can pick up cheap properties, and if you aren't married to the idea of a 1 year lease, you can get some really quality tenants that are in town for 3-6 months working on projects and the plants and refineries that are getting paid per-diem.

Tenants are less likely to pay rent or on time, it is harder to find quality tenants, you are more likely dealing with subsidized rents (which is another time suck).

Brandon & Heather Turner's The Book on Managing Rental Properties: A Proven System for Finding, Screening, and Managing Tenants With Fewer Headaches and Maximum Profit would be a great start.

Do a thorough screening on the applicant. 

Also, Subject-To is all about the quality of the underlying financing.

If those places don't excite you and you're looking for a good Quality of life and lower prices, I'd say go for TX, Carolina Coast or Oregon (or any place except CA, NY, NJ, MA).  

These are generally "cheap" units as no big business is going to pop for the quality units they're deploying to hundreds of homes. 

I have also looked at areas known for recent appreciation (metros in GA, TX, FL) and I either can't find a quality duplex or they don't exist.

You won't get the answers to all the questions you have.I would prefer number one every time but your question was about property managers I would ask.How do they screen tenants?

If you do paint, be sure to use a high quality primer first, then a high quality paint.