California newbie out of state investing

[Sean Harris]

First off i just want to say hello to everyone. I have been on the website for a little bit now, listening to podcasts and reading post after post racking my brain trying to decide how to invest and what to invest in. I believe that i have narrowed my niche down to small multi family homes or single family homes that will provide good steady cash flow. Unfortunately where i live in California "central coast"  is smack dab in between of San Francisco and L.A. is very very expensive especially right now. So that being said, after talking with people i work with who have rental properties out of state i want to try to dive into this in hopes of one day making this a full time thing. I own a house currently and have a rental unit on the property that i rent out and put the money toward my current mortgage. I have some questions such as how to find the right states/counties to invest into with my budget and how does the insurance work being out of state. it just seems very intimidating to me, i just need some help on the basics to get the ball rolling.