I know people who erect cages inside their houses in secure neighborhoods so that when (not if), criminals break in, their family are safely behind the cages. 

And the area is safe and offers a good quality of life, which is important if you plan to house-hack and not just buy and use purely as a rental property.

But even if I had done it when I moved to Southern NH I think the technique would have served me well. 

However, it sounds like you've done what you should to prepare the property.Most of the time, tenants just want a clean, safe place to live their lives.

We look for nice and safe and clean with average amenities but nice things like coffee makers, hair dryers and black out curtains for the night shifts.

I believe they are being truthful with you since once mitigation to is done to state standards, they technique didn't have to disclose to you that their was a meth issue at all. 

For the FDA first it was good enough to have safe medications now we require effectiveness data too, because we did not want charlatans selling potions. 

In that case, I opted to let them out of the lease because they asked, stating they no longer felt safe there.

It seems like a sheriff sale where you are actually get title insurance which is great as it is unlike other sheriff sale where buyer has to do their own title work and there is no title insurance.your deposit should be safe if sheriff can't deliver clean title. 

As someone who has grown up in, worked, and watched Atlanta's real estate market expand my entire life, I would grade these areas as GOOD but not GREAT.It really depends on your strategy, but following I-75 N to TN is a safe bet.