finding the right out of state markets to invest in?

[Osho Berman]

Greetings, I've purchased and self managed several apartment complexes in my local seattle market over the last decade and now am looking to diversify my holdings in other US markets. This is a very unfamiliar to me so I was curious if there is such a thing as a national realtor licensed in all 50 states....or some other non realtor advisor of sorts specializing in real estate, or other resources to help me narrow down various markets based my investment parameters?? I'm looking to buy high cap rate apartment complexes in markets which are landlord friendly, offer stable industry for employment and are not complete slums. I've canvased many southern state listings but am struggling to arrive at any particular markets which I feel I understand well enough to make considerable investments. Have any of you been through this process and if so can you point me to any resources to help me narrow down specific communities?  

I'm also interested in "best practices" in how you manage apartments remotely. In my experience managing local apartment buildings requires local "hands on" management (much more so than buying single family houses) so I might have to hire a property management company but by the same token I've found it very helpful to have some level of involvement in my complexes to optimize performance. What's the best way to handle this? Is there a hybrid model you use where you manage key aspects of your apartments while also using a property management company for other local hands on needs? What works best for optimal asset performance? 

Thank you in advance for your input. It's nice to see this community of like minded people.