For them, rural is the risk if it's going to grow or not, ultimately if they have to absorb the property, are they [the lender] going to lose money on their exit strategy. 

Ultimately, you need to figure out your end goal.

I am interested in approaching this from the standpoint of a newbie who is trying to use real estate both to diversify with something a bit more stable from my day job (we own retail stores) and ultimately find more balance in life.  

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

Ultimately, the keys aren't THAT important since, as @Russell Brazil correctly pointed out, you really should have the locks rekeyed anyway.  

They are simply working for the dollar to survive for tomorrow.  

@Martin Guerrero although you can (and often should) bring a GC with you (esp. if you plan to do a rehab), if you want to become a successful RE investor, you should make it a goal to become proficient at evaluating properties (meaning: evaluating problems with the property, likely costs to remediate problems, potential value add opportunities & associated costs, etc.).Ultimately, you want to become almost as good (or maybe even better) at evaluating properties as a GC and inspector.   ...Once you get to that level, you become an invaluable piece of your due diligence process, and your due diligence process involves three experienced pros (you, your GC, AND your inspector--which is much better than just a GC and inspector).  ...at that point, your due diligence process is multi-faceted and very robust (which is critical to success in RE investing)....you can make your due diligence process even more robust by adding an agent who is highly experienced in property rehabs, RE investing, and who understands how to evaluate properties.Good luck out there!

Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free).

Best advice I can offer is to wait it out, or go direct to seller, once the property hits the MLS you are competing with everybody and ultimately paying commission adding upwards of 6%.

Although probably not for long.Many landlords survive based on dumb luck.