What should I be looking for? I know city and state requirements differ from city to city or state to state, but what are the basic things I should be expecting during the purchasing, repairing, and renting the property? I am looking at three properties which are bank repos and the price is pretty reasonable.
These properties were orignally single family homes not rental properties.

I am renting a small apartment and am looking for something bigger. There are not a lot of rental properties in my (rural) area but I see a TON of houses For Sale and Vacant(some for at least a yr) and wonder if Owners/Brokers/Agents ever rent these out?

If you bought a small house in a small town (ie: 50,000pop or less), can you reasonably expect to rent out the property, assuming the rent is within reason for the area?

I’m considering renting a beach condo in St. Simons Island, GA. I contacted the owner today, and he said he normally doesn’t use a lease with his renters because he is not a broker, he just owns the condo as property and rents it out when he isn’t using it. I’ve had bad experiences in the past with rental properties, like being charged thousands of dollars for damages I didn’t do. This man doesn’t live in St. Simons- he lives in the same state, near Atlanta, and he will not be present at check-in or check-out. He will send me all the information I need in an email once I pay the last half of the rent. How can I protect myself here? I don’t want there to be no contract and then he try to stick me with bills, run off with my money, etc, and I have no way to fight it. I’ve looked at rental lease forms, but none seem to fit this situation. He said he’d be more than happy to sign whatever I ask him to, he just normally doesn’t require it with his tenants. Any ideas?