Advice on investing in small multi family homes out of state

[Victoria Mick]

Hi Bigger Pockets, Just starting out here, took a leap and upgraded to "pro" today! I'm a mom of two younger kids. I work part time with my husband at his heating business. I worked as an agent doing rentals in NYC for about a year, 2013-14 but transitioned to working for a mid sized management company handling their in house leasing also in Manhattan for 5.5 years. I want to start investing in real estate as a way to make passive income and eventually achieve financial freedom for myself and my family. My goal is to purchase my first small multi family home within the next year. However given I live in New York (Nassau County) anything in the city and around my vicinity is way higher than I can afford (I have about 30-40k for a downpayment to work with) and so I'm considering starting out investing out of state. Though I have a lot of reservations buying out of state where I'm unfamiliar and do not have contacts. Has anyone started out investing out of their home town? Most of what I've been reading says to start out close to home so you can be hands on and learn which is what I would prefer. Any advice is appreciated!