Even the tenants that do occasionally have financial issues are really no trouble if they follow my process for late payments. 

I think that is a likely scenario with a partial note as it seems an investor would occasionally want to sell partial notes for cash. 

It doesn't specifically state that guests are banned, but by the way that the lease is worded, they are.In theory, my lease covers me and I make sure the tenant knows up front that only the folks on the lease should stay in the home.In practice, I've never had an issue and I honestly don't care about the occasional guests (I do not pay for any utilities on my houses, so there's no bottom line to protect).  

In those cases, you need a good track record of what a running average (12 months, to account for all seasons) of utilities costs per month, include it in the rent in some fashion, and be sure to occasionally revisit your 12-month running average costs with your provider to ensure you're recapturing those costs. 

You MUST be willing to occasionally travel to your properties or send someone who is deeply invested in the property like you are - not your own PM.

For days after the storm hit we saw next to zero MLS activity other than maybe the occasional price change.

A lot of these areas its normal to have the occasional eviction or non-paying tenant this is typically not included at all in their pro-forma.As others said buy a property with little to no work can be great option.

I personally have rentals here in Houston, the cash-on-cash return and appreciation are steady.You need a team of local professionals like property managers, contractors, agents etc.A local Investor-Agent can help shorten your learning curve and save you a lot of headaches as they tend to understand the market better.You should select a market that will meet your investment goals.Here are four key reasons why investors purchase rental property out of state:Invest in geographic areas with population and job growth is strong.Diversify a rental property portfolio with markets that best match your investment strategy.Focus on the type of returns you’re looking for, such as maximum cash flow, high appreciation, or total yield over the targeted holding period.Operating expenses are lower in markets with fewer regulations, lower property taxes, and landlord-friendly laws.Finally, as mentioned earlier, it's crucial to build a great network of professionals to help you and to occasionally visit your property yourself.All the best!

There are still occasional ones that pop up and make sense but not many.

Although most of these were on the MLS, they were often listings with no pictures besides the front door, and they were definitely not professionally staged lol.PS: You should never count solely on appreciation as an investor, but at the same time owning 3-5 half million dollar properties and adding 200K to your net worth in those occasional 10%+ appreciation years isn't a bad deal!