How to narrow down your market?

[Kim Rose]

I have been a listener of the podcast for years, but haven't jumped into real estate yet. I live in Colorado where it is hard to find deals and am interested in out of state rentals. I have no real estate or rehab experience and would be looking at buy and hold rental properties (single family or duplex). Where do you even begin with learning about your market? How do you even narrow down a market to focus on?   I am interested in a few--but they are all places I have never been and have no experience with. Do you travel to these areas first? How do you go about finding people on the ground to give you sound advice? I don't know how so many people are making all of these out of state deals work for them without any real intimate knowledge of the area themselves.