I think at worse it is a long term stable area with limited appreciation but I don't expect depreciation.  

I've found the HUD inspections to be very limited, and sometime even incorrect.

Elderly investors should have some test for sophistication and/or limits on investing (10% of wealth?).

One issue giving me some concern is the limited opportunity to force appreciation with this property. 

Now I am looking to shadow an experienced investors from the Pittsburgh area before I start making deals and try to limit some mistakes that come with investing in real estate.

Based on my experience, the Fannie Mae DTI ratio limit of 36% is not so restrictive.In your scenario, you are expecting to live off of $5k a month ($60k) a year and that does not take into account things like maintenance, repairs, PM fees, etc that will eat into your passive income.

A trust does not limit liability but it does provide anonymity, which may be just as important.

The sky really is the limit in real estate.

Flippers and rehabbers get a stable source of funding that can scale (in theory) infinitely as they grow, and investors get a chance to earn stable, decently high returns - with limited downside in the case of well-collateralized land or development projects.Just my observations of the industry so far.

FHA has a lot of limitations when it comes to specific rehabs while FNMA HomeStyle does not.