Welcome Welcome @Jamie Grossman - I am a biased Chicago investor, but know that success can be found in every market across the country! 

I own, operate, and live in the state of my LLC but I have clients all over the country/world. 

Is there any value in flying to another part of the country, whether it be Pittsburgh or LA, to visit a project that I invested in? 

Alabama ranks 8th in the country for low cost of living.- No one particular industry takes over more than 18% of the job pool leaving plenty of diversification for a safer market to invest in.

Bend - Very few places in the country with the density of luxury new construction properties being developed.Ashland - Micro Bend.

They create the team and a plan, acquire, due diligence, take care of loan products (If needed), oversee construction/renovation, hire property manager (or run in house management,) take care of accounting/taxes/K1s, deal with closing or refinancing.An LP (limited partner) just puts in the funds (after hopefully vetting the GP and team) and keeps fingers crossed while earning mailbox money. 

The folks staying in your unit want a seamless transition to their new living quarters, and the person paying wants an easy way to cross out that line on their to-do list.

I am on the board at CFRI (Central Florida Realty Investors), the local chapter to the national REIA and one of the largest in the country. 

If that isn't feasible for his situation I'd recommend looking for rentals in the southern/middle part of the country where price points are much easier and the laws are landlord friendly.

(This is in the Southeast part of the country.)Market FundamentalsPopulation Growth: 1.8%Median Household Income: $77,573Wage/Income Growth: 7.3%Unemployment Rate: 4.2%Job Growth: 2.7% (slight decline last 2 yrs)Home Ownership Rate: 59%Median Age:  35Employers are stables between Health, Tech., National Retailers & Shipping Companies, local schools and BankingCrime is 1.06 Violent Crimes & 9.82 for Property CrimesSchools are on average 6/7 out of 10.