Agree with sp. As long as you are able to find good tenants, you should be fine, and, hopefully, if you do sell, you’ll find a buyer who sees the same potential.
A few of our single and multi-family properties here and in other states, although not in “ghetto” or “deplorable” areas, they are in older, high demand areas.
We’ve always been happy with the returns, and have never had any issues we couldn’t handle, so things might work out better than you think. In your case, getting the HOA on board is key.