Houses are still relatively cheap and there is high demand for rentals. 

I would not invest in any location where the population is stagnant or declining.You will not find any cheap properties in locations that meet the above location requirements.

Cheap unlicenesed or insured workers . much higher liability . 

I'm not real familiar with Stessa, but I know there are programs designed to manage rentals (Innago, TenantCloud, RentTec Direct, etc) that are free or cheap to use and they can help track tenants, leases, expenses, maintenance, and more.

I think the whole salers thought they’d discovered a cheap market about an hour north of me, hence the flurry of activity, but the properties in the particular location go on market in as is condition and all need to be rehabbed but the tenants just trash them so anyone who knows the area isn’t going to fall for that.

Get Quicken "Deluxe" 2013 to 2016 (one of those Deluxe versions, and Use Turbo Tax Premier Home and Rental Property at tax time), cheap 1 time expense and no recurring monthly fee. 

Just keep the property in good repair, get the homeowners/landlord insurance, and get an umbrella policy (which really is pretty cheap for what it offers) and you should be fine.Whether you use the equity in your home is up to you. 

The cheap ones don't seem to break any more than the nicer ones.If repair is going to cost more than 50% of a new one, I opt for replacement.

Our properties aren't as cheap as Ohio but can get 4 units that rent $4800 for $400k range in good area and in the class A areas $600k buildings that rent $5k range.

So picked a cheap little place up from them.