. $500k won't buy you much in San Fran but is a pretty healthy budget in Jax.One smaller factor is that Duval county doesn't charge impact fees on new construction (and is the only county in Florida that does not) which is great for developers but not so great when there's no money for maintaining our schools.https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20190423/duval-voters-to-decide-on-proposed-sales-tax-referendum-to-pay-for-replacing-repairing-renovating-schoolsAlso this isn't Florida or Jacksonville specific, but in times when the stock market is particularly volatile real estate investing becomes more appealing even with lower returns.Personally as an investor I find all this out-of-town investing a bit annoying (increased competition and increased prices) and am concerned that these properties potentially aren't well maintained.

@Alex Smith also don't forget our population has been growing on the average of 2% in 2016, and then again in 2017, and it seems that it has increased again in 2018.

Will make upgrades to increase rent if tenant doesn't renew otherwise only small yearly increases and small property upgrades to try to keep them happy as is for now. 

Many management companies only do it to increase their sales which is where the real money is made.

The thought of spending another 4-6 months saving for a down payment sucks, but I think we'd both prefer to put a nice chunk down ahead of time to lower the risk and to increase the cash flow.  

Definitely place a fence, obviously that's what your market is telling youA) increase rentsB) Tax lossC) PrivacyD) Demand

Because we would be tearing it down we are not interested in sinking a lot of money into updating it right now. however, we would put up temporary walls or things like that if it could increase the rental income enough.The backyard has a pool, vineyard, and tennis Court.Thanks for any advice!

A cage around the thermostat won't work, as the tenant will use a paperclip or knife to increase the heat setting.

However, that is a large increase and with your fico score you should be able to get a better rate.  

Rent has continued to increase since 1985, even during the housing crisis.