New bay area investor wondering about out of state turnkeys

[Jerry Tsai]

Hi everyone! First post, yay! I'm completely new to BP and REI and have been trying to learn as much as possible. I live in the SF bay area (San Mateo), and my reading over the last few months seems to confirm that investing in CA seems like such a difficult endeavor (high costs of entry, difficult to cash flow properties, etc)... especially for a newbie like me.

I wanted to see if anyone has had any experience with turnkey properties out of state. If so, what specific turnkey companies would you recommend? Are there major pitfalls where I should avoid these completely? How do I trust or proceed with these deals when I don't have connections outside of CA?

This stuff is daunting to say the least, so I appreciate any resources, words of advice, or recommendations. Thanks!