Hey Ken,
I think you need an agent that can supply you with a list of potential homes on a constant basis. You need to be able to put in offers and he/she needs to be able to keep up with you. The agent should be able to offer assistance in gathering ARV and submitting offers in a quick manner. I would think that in order to get that response time, you also need to be quick in your numbers.
I work a full time job and I have two kids. I run numbers and make calls during my lunch often. Once we have an accepted deal and I go with my contractor to check it out. We do a quick run through to get an overall idea of cost and planning. Once we acquire the property and close escrow, we go in and do a thorough walk through and talk details. I then visit the property about once a week to see that he's on task. We stay in contact via texting to answer questions.
I've been doing this for 1.5 years. We're in a different market, but I would assume that I would do something similar if I were to move to another state to replicate the process.
Good luck!
