Need help - Hard to Choose Between 2 houses

house 1: brick house, year 1981, $79,950    3bd/2bt/2ga    1317sf 
currently vacant, can rent for $950-$1000, but winter time maybe hard to find tenant, and may need to give half month or 1 month free rent to attract tenants. What if can't rent out for 2-3 month during the winter????
This house is in a community that most of the houses are brick houses. It's a medium community. better community has the 2nd house.
Kitchen, breakfast area, and bathrooms all have title floor. There's a huge tree in front yard, which will incur trimming cost, and possible storm damage to the house.


house 2: non-brick house, year 1979,  $69,950   3bd/2bt/2ga     1280sf  
currently has tenants, and tenants want to stay, rent is $895.
The neighborhood is blue-color, hardly any brick houses in the neighborhood. It's a lower-medium community. Kitchen has vinyl flooring, breakfast and bathrooms has carpet flooring.



I like the house 1 better, but my realtor thinks the house 1 can't rent too much higher than house 2, which makes house 2 a better investment property. Seems house 1 has better appreciation potential, but can't count on that, because my city is very slow on appreciation. zip: 79423
Which one is better? I've never had a rental home, don't know how to choose.  Thanks for any help in advance!