That's when I came across several manufactured and mobile homes around the 50K range.

You can file electronically but you'll need to set up an account.  

If you have to have electronic payment, just set up another account at your bank and give your tenant the number so they can do bill pay.  

If you focus on the following, you can probably reduce your risk and not have to worry about the area getting worse for a long time:-access to public transportation, job and population trends, rent growth, vacant housing stock in the area, quality of school districtFor example....If you're planning to invest in a town with one large major employer (say a manufacturer) and that employer goes out of business or has a mass layoff due to an economic downturn, it doesn't matter if you own single families or multifamilies......there isn't going to be anyone to rent your units or buy your property.  99% of the time, a diversified local employment base is better (or atleast one that has many employers that are downturn resistant - health care, education, government, etc.) 

I know you live far away, but lease signing, background check, and credit reports can all be done electronically now and you should be just fine.Please let me know if you have any more questions!

I know I've been using electronic signatures for leases and other documents that's built into rentec for years now, and that's a feature I read on a news feed that Buildium just released this year. 

modular home, unlike a manufactured home  is a home that adheres to the same construction codes as a site-built home.

A little bit about myself; I'm a recent college graduate who moved out this way from the east coast last year, I maintain a "9 to 5" as an engineer in the Chemical Manufacturing industry, and I am looking at REI as a means to further diversify my portfolio.

Following are the similarities and differences between the solo 401k and the self-directed IRA.The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m); andThe Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (IRA LLC) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2015; the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

The zoning is for light manufacturing which would fall under his business.