New to Investing. Looking for Long Distance. Where do I start?

[Mariah Sanchez]

Hello! 

I am new to this investing game. I currently live in San Diego, born and raised in Phoenix. But I am active duty and move around all the time. California is too expensive for me to get started in, and even Arizona is starting to get pretty pricey. My plan is to try my hand at wholesaling for the next year or two to get a decent lump sum ( I currently have $9,000), for a down payment and money for a rehab. My long term goals is to buy and hold and hire a property manager to help take care of the rental property. 

I am open to all suggestions from Alaska, to Wyoming, to Florida and everything in between. I am just not sure where to start because googling good rental markets in the US brings up a lot of sources. How do you begin to narrow down these choices? What area or states seem to have a good rental market? When you first began investing long distance, how did you choose your locations? 

Any advice for a newbie is greatly appreciated! 

Thanks! - A very confused 21-year old.