Both are great and I know there are several others.There are countless threads on BP discussing out of state investing locations--you may want to start by reading through some of the content already posted.  

Anyone familiar with our market that has tips and/or advice, we'd love to hear from you!

Any tips?

I love reading posts like this.

@Michael Le Thank you for the tip of how "up and coming" the neighborhood seems to be.

Read up and start inquiring to see what type of real estate you want to pursue, having clear goals is a great way to start, especially when you start building a team.

As I was reading the forums, I gained so much knowledge and yet totally overwhelmed.

I wrote an article on this a few weeks ago for BP.

Read my posts in this thread from minutes ago:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/83/topics/235...As to that deal, you won't have an option, you'll have a sale contract, the seller named his poison by putting requirements for maintenance in an option contract.

I though about giving real estate a try which is why I started reading online a bit about real estate, made a purchase order for the book "Rental Property Investing" and came across BiggerPockets.