How do you analyze a neighborhood while investing remotely?

[Jai Koolwal]

Hi All,

I am new to real estate investing and am looking to start out by syncing up with a coupe of turn key operators. However, what I am struggling with right now is that I a not able to scope out a neighborhoods as I am looking to invest out of state in cities I have no idea about ( I live in California bay area and looking to invest elsewhere). Just believing the turn key seller's word about the community is not enough. I am trying to understand different subtle factors like how close the location is to the jobs, is the crime high/low, is the neighborhood up and coming etc. 

Trying to figure out what the experts are doing in similar situations to get these answers. Researching online is an obvious option (& something I always pursue) but it doesn't always get you some of the angles I am looking at. 

Do you typically find a RE agent that knows the local neighborhoods & get feed back from them..or is there another hat trick that I am not aware of :)

Thanks

Jai