Hi @Kevin Longeuay I have bought properties in Wisconsin, AZ, NM, and NV and offcourse CA. and help buy properties in I don't even know but states I didn't even know lol.
1) if ill by your first purchase out of area, I will fly there and check it out, once you develop a relationship with the agent and trust him you can do by picture or I do face time.
2) Yeah I try to go every 6 months at least, or I used to go every time I got a new tenant to meet them but that got too much. in AZ I developed a good relation with my Uber driver and I pay him his fare once a month to drive by my properties and send me picture or see if he catches anything weird.
3) I was a Investment Analyst for a Private equity Fund, so we analysis the markets by Demographic, employment rate, properties on market, market time of rental and of sale, affordability and proximity to basic needs.
you have any other questions or I didn't answer all your doubts let me know.