You need to have your tenants/students commit to 12 month leases (I strongly suggest May-April), there is also significant scales of efficiency by owning multiple student rentals.

The house is in a decent (c+) neighborhood, and is quite outdated inside as far as styling.

The benefits that influenced me to get my license the education of course as I like to have a strong knowledge base in whatever I do, the network of professionals that I'm now exposed to, and of course the savings since now I won't have to pay an agent for the transaction during a purchase. 

I would strongly advise against you entering the arena of rental properties.

.- Most importantly, she is only 1 block from my house and she always answers her phone so getting hold of her is easy.Based on the above, is she considered a strong candidate?

Its actually still a very strong market here in Midland/Odessa, Texas.

On my in between stuff, I usually don't advertise it, and then when they ask I say one months, and let them negotiate it down to half if they're strong on everything else.

There are other threads on cross-border accounting on BP that also give some recommendations of accountants that others use for their cross-border investing.I would strongly recommend consulting an business attorney knowledgeable in cross-border entity creation as well that can help guide you regarding the pros and cons of operating as an entity.Business trips are absolutely tax deductible as long as the expenses are reasonable (see Amanda Han's recent book - it's a good primer on real estate taxes).

If you are buying several properties I would strongly urge you to go to the location and look for yourself to determine neighborhood and condition. 

I am a strong believer in house hacking as well and am currently doing just that in Fresno, Ca.