I came up with $25/day by dividing the rent ($750) by 30 days = $25/day

On the plus side, this really puts me on the right track; back to the drawing board!

It would be nice if real life turned out like it was when we draw it up on the chalk board, but it almost never is.  

Use actual recently SOLD houses similar in size, age, configuration, in the same neighborhood with no major dividing lines in between your house and the comparables - highway, main road, stream, etc.I spent about 5 minutes on Zillow and searched the last 6 months for sales in Cabot which I assume the house in question is.

So its back to the drawing board!

Dividing $400k by $2500 is too much math for me.

Have an attorney draw up the paperwork and you can use it over and over.

Gross annual yield comes out to about 17% (annual income from rent divided by purchase price, assuming I buy it for the asking price).I drove by this property though have not seen it on the inside.

Drawing from your own experience, how involved do you expect an out of state partner to be after a property is secured?

Where do you draw the line and how would you recommend assessing neighborhood quality from a distance.