It is always a possibility that the tenant does not vacate and you end up having to involve the courts, and in the meantime the tenant that signed and paid could sue you for performance and you'd have to sue the existing tenant to recover those funds. 

We don’t want really established neighborhoods because they are too expensive but also don’t want to be in the middle of no where country.

That he doesn't pay and skips the country.

He is approached regularly with strong opportunities around the country.

If you have never built anything significant in a seismic region you should stay away from imagining costs for 2-story additions in earthquake country.

Out in the country?

Would you travel across the country if it was a good investment or would you rent in the location first?

Our civil court system has awarded judgments against black and white law.

Which you should because if you don't have that filled out correctly and the lease winds up in court it can cause issues for you. 

And I travelled the country for 10 years w/o and then w/ kids so agreed - well stocked is really nice if it's large parties... for us working travelers I just wanted cleanliness - rather have clean and sparse than hairs/food/trash left behind and it's stocked to the hilt