Remember, leveraging your buying power will do great things in all aspects of real estate investing.

Alabama allows for a Deed of Trust instrument which will grant you a power of sale.  

The most powerful thing you can tell yourself is that you can do anything and as long as you believe that you will have inner power regardless of others opinions.Often the biggest self-placed limiter is on ourselves putting too much into what others think of us or believe we should be.

Is it located next to any eye sores (major highways, power plants, etc)?

The Power of QuickBooks.

If they find an insured making a practice of filing claims and especially if those claims exceed what they collect from the insured, they are going to plug the hole in the boat and cut you off.Reading between the lines (don't take what I am about to say personally), you are lacking experience and looking for the "easy" button to manage maintenance costs.  

Information is power

Your seller will need whatever documents that prove sufficient capacity, powers and authoity to pass marketable title. 

The Power of Leverage: Real estate mostly appreciates over time, either at the pace of inflation as they are a tangible asset, or a fair bit above it when demand outstrips availability.

Consider that he could probably hire a property manager for a lot less.If you can convince him, more power to you...but you should be realistic about what your cash flow will be (it WON'T be $2000/month), so that way you can set realistic expectations with the owner as well.Also keep in mind that if you don't have an equity in the property, it may be illegal for you to property manage it (depending on the laws of your state).