Hello! My quick view from 1000 miles away and not knowing your situation at all :)
For me it comes down to the Math.
If you buy out of state even in a lower price you will have to put down at least 20% to 25% and if you buy where you live you could buy a primary home for 3.5% to 5% down.
The difference : 20% on $200k : $40k plus closing costs And 5% on $400k : is $20k plus closing costs which is much lower for a more expensive asset. (Or to control more money with leverage or a loan).
If you don’t own a home yet: this is a no brainer in my book. If you own a home already, rent it out and buy another primary home.
We first bought a condo, then a SFH and next another SFH at 5% down again - with a higher price.
You know the area, you know the demographics and economics. You will can meet your core team members face to face and get a sense of what you will need once you go out of state if you ever do!
There’s a lot more of course: Rent to price ratios, prices, etc etc
Let me know if you have any questions and if you need referrals to Realtors or Lenders anywhere!
You could start in your town or in your state, get the hand of it, build some equity and force some equity by renovating or additions, ADU's and then move the equity to lower price point areas.
For example: I’m in CA : where prices are between $600k and $800k : buying at 5% down payments still make sense! Appreciation at 5% per year will be around $35k per year and loan pay down about $20k to $25k per year: so in theory, in 5 years I could have at least $200k of equity to deploy in for example: Ohio and buy 1 or 2 homes cash for cash flow for 3 to 4 houses with 25% down.
Build your strategy and plan first and then make a decision and get started!