If you believe in economic cycles, these opportunities may not last once confidence gets back to "normal", people "see" the cost of ownership value proposition, and acquisition money drives prices back to rational market levels.

From an economic standpoint the FEDs need to show that housing is moving forward, however slowly.

You need to call your insurance provider.They will tell you a list of what is okay and not.Mine no aggressive breeds of animals is permitted or they will pull the policy on all the buildings.Rottweiler,Pitt Bull,etc.Some insurance policies have weight exclusions but some do not.Another important factor is the BITE HISTORY of the animal.If it's deemed a non-aggressive breed but that little dog has a bad history of biting people then I won't take the animal.I don't like pet deposits.You have to hold it like a security deposit.Instead I like a one time "pet acceptance fee" that is non-refundable.The tenants will say the pet won't do anything etc. but the amount of pet deposits that actually go back to the tenant after they leave I would guess is very,very small.You can also get the tenant to pay a pet fee per month.With the pet fee you need to figure out the cost of the unit for new carpet and damage to the base boards.The cost to be carpet,pad, and labor to install plus baseboard finish and paint.Used to you could put a vapor barrier between the carpet and the pad but it would be really noisy.Now if you spend just a little more you can get a scotch pad made out of rubber that is stain resistant.Then when you go to replace the carpet the pad is still good.Have in your lease that the tenant will be responsible for clipping claws,neutering,getting rabies and other shots to maintain the health and well being of the animal,etc.

These areas are exactly as you describe, economically depressed.

I'm currently an Assistant Director at a large community health center, but would like to transition to real estate investing full time within a year's time.

The true judge of a building's health will come with the resale certificate and careful audit of their financials, minutes and governing documents.

Disclaimer: I am fairly new to the real estate investing game and my expertise is on the construction side not on the real estate or economic side, but I do try and keep up as best I can.With that being said we had a speaker at a local REIA here in Sacramento go over some trends he saw in the real estate market.  

Off the top of my head I can think of regional economic trends, population movement, metro and state tax rates, Chamber of Commerce economic forecasts.

We plan to build an economical starter home.

We plan to increase our income so that we can retire comfortably and afford health care.