And I do not recommend it, since the area is depressed, weak demographics, and little prospect for improvement.

It’s like this bartender/owner from NJ who I know. Someone sold him on buying 20 rental units (shacks, really) in some depressed part of Mississippi. His returns were amazing on paper (something like $15k per unit, $500/mo rent) but he sold it after getting tired of chasing bad tenants, 50%+ vacancy, property managers who spent the rent income on booze, etc, and generally having to fly down there every other weekend.