Like Michael said, I would use a cleaner once a month to clean or biweekly, restock the common area items (like TP, dish soap, etc), and sign up for routine lawn and snow services.

The only thing I can think of that may be harder to deal with if I am not local is routine maintenance issues, but I was thinking I can just ask around for some handy man referrals to have at the ready in case those smaller issues arise, while I would instruct our future tenants to contact our service provider for any emergency issues. 

Even if you fancy yourself as more of an investor than an agent the ability to earn income as an agent is second to none.

A lot of motivational gurus will tell you to dream big, commit and go all it - buy that fancy car now so you set that bar high and force yourself to achieve it.

Flipping strikes my fancy, I have skills for it.

At first it may seem overwhelming but you'll quickly develop a routine to handle inquires, refunds, schedules, etc...If you start your own website and marketing campaign (highly recommended), the process becomes much more time consuming.

No fancy photos, glossy, etc...just a plain black ink on white or green card stock....they may have yellow too??

I routinely track my offers so I can follow up on my analysis and numbers when my bid is not accepted, just to see if I was off or not.  

Geraldine has a great outlook and I look forward to implementing some of her tips into my daily routine.

That kind of house will have taxes and insurance of about 400/month for a house valued around 150K, which is not extravagant and affords the acceptable-not fancy neighborhood.