I love it here, but want to have a place of my own to rent out for income, and go visit whenever I want.I have stayed at some resorts that have a condo/apartment section that you can purchase, and the resort takes care of marketing, booking, cleaning, etc.

I grew up in Bergen County myself, but currently reside in Brooklyn.Though I can't speak much on investing in Northern NJ/NYC metro because I never really considered it, there are the obvious advantages and comfort levels associated with investing in-state as i'm sure you're familiar with.

It is a lot more risk than I am comfortable with; yes there are incentives but that does not mitigate the risk sufficiently in my opinion. 

Which makes me nervous about unseen issues like asbestos, lead paint, etc etc.I plan on asking the seller for all of the closing costs - I'm not comfortable with the amount of cash I'd have left over if I have to pay them.I haven't seen the property in person yet so it's hard to say for sure, but from the pictures it looks to be in good condition other than needing some cosmetic work (paint) on the outside.Do I need to have 15k sitting around just in case?

I offered them a five-year contract and they ended up staying for 7 years.

I am still dealing with my problem tenant and my tenant has recorded me stating she can stay in the house as long as she like as long as she does not damage my property and pays rent. 

This relocation will be sometime in 2020 I understand, but it was just reported in the local news last week.Even though the companies aren't moving that far and many employees will likely want to stay in their current residences, I'd like to take the opportunity to communicate with both companies and their employees about buying primary residences and rental investments near their new work locations.

Buy quality, screen tenants, stay in better neighborhoods and say a prayer.

Once you get comfortable and feel that you have an handle on things then you can do from there.

Stay away from the VLB loans in the Texas, they are a ripoff.