Starting off as a long distance investor

[Adam N.]

Go easy on me, I'm new to all of this! I'm not 100% novice, I'm already a homeowner, living in Cleveland, Ohio. I would like to use savings and some home equity to purchase an investment property, perhaps a two-family home. I'm young (23) and have a good, stable job. I'm putting down a personal business plan on paper to help me lay out my long term goal, which is to own enough rental properties generating enough cash flow to live off of. The problem I see happening is my location. It seems like there are so many vacancies in my area, how can I be sure that I will even be able to rent the units out at all? Cleveland lost 10% of its population since the last census. I just don't feel confident in the rental market here, which is a shame because there are so many bargains on the market.

I would rather invest in bigger cities, especially known college towns like Boston, DC, Philadelphia.

Does anyone have any experience, or advice, on starting out as a long distance landlord? Or does anyone have a good reason for me to invest here in NE Ohio?

Let me know if you would like more information. Thanks!