Stuck first time buyer - WA State

[David Cate]

Hello, I'm looking to buy my first rental property but am not finding anything seemingly worthwhile within 3-4 hours drive of our area (greater Seattle). I don't have many out of state connections and am wary of pulling the trigger on something that I couldn't physically drive to if needed. We already have a primary home and aren't interested in house hacking so although a multi-unit is desirable we wouldn't be living in it ourselves. WA is not a landlord friendly state so that's also giving me some pause about buying here. For those who bought their first LTR properties out of state, how did you develop your connections to the point where you were ready to buy? Did you already have a foothold in an area? Tks for the advice.