Sorry to hear about your flooding troubles. You have to balance whether it is worth it travelling across the country to fix it. Insurance sucks re. coverage.
We are on our 7th year of being landlords. It all depends a lot on the kind of tenants you have. The second set of tenants we have are wonderful people - organized, clean and professional.
Must do's are:
get references from prospective tenants. Choose the best.
don't get too chummy with the tenants
rental agreement must be comprehensive
keep house/condo updated
replace toilets, stove, fridge with modern units especially if tenants are long term tenants
buy investment property locally - easier to keep an eye on
we find that a condo has lower maintenance as condo fees cover most of everything outside the unit.
remember that high tenant turnover is expensive in terms of loss of revenue and more trouble.
Bought our condo at a high price and is now worth less than what we paid but with good tenants we can wait it out.
G.