So to break down the numbers in one line, from the Census Bureau link, the City of South Bend has a population of 101,516, a total of 46,324 housing units (as of the year 2010) of which 18,530 are rentals with a median gross rent of $711.00.As far as the economic profile, since all those tenants need a job so that they can pay the rent :) here is a cut and paste summary of the area by the St.

She had checked out good, job & credit wise, but had personal issues that you can't screen for.

Others will know better than I but I'd consider avoiding the property manager at first - They are expensive and rarely do a better job that a caring/motivated owner.  

@Tyler HuntingtonI will assume your pro-forma on the expenses is accurate, and there are no common areas where you might need to pay for electric to a light or two; tenants pay for water, sewer, trash, etc.My suggestion is to look hard at your acquisition costs.  

This is common sense.

I will not have any issue getting a job upon coming back to the states. 

the biggest issues are that the available tenant base drops dramatically around October and doesn't pick up again till the end of the school year.People are no different than animals in that regard.They want to be settled and hunkered down in a property before the school year and/or bad weather starts.Quality tenants with good financial backgrounds don't want to move their families in the middle of an icy,snowy winter for obvious reasons,and good college students have already started school in August.Many of the few available tenants will have questionable backgrounds like recent job loss,previous eviction,bad credit,difficult income verification and don't make 3 times the rent,criminal records,etc.   

My current job is not demanding nor is it labor intensive whatsoever.

It's common for the sink plunger and trap to pick up hair, soap, and turn it into things that nightmares are made of.

I was recently given an end date for my current job (I'm a contract engineer so it happens).