The foundation of this comes from the loan- your knowledge of the loan.

Pick an area that is within a 2 hour drive or a 3 hour nonstop plane flight.Get in that market and really learn it neighborhood by neighborhood block by block.Local market knowledge is every investor’s competitive advantage.I do MF deals in Greenville SC where I live and already own 400 doors.

This community is full of helpful resources and knowledgable professionals eager to assist during your journey.Have you chosen a brokerage yet? 

Never underestimate the knowledge of a local!

There is no "secret" that the big boys are doing necessarily, just incremental pieces of information, relationships, and knowledge that have been built up over time at scale. 

I am in SoCal and Detroit has been in my mind but have zero knowledge about the market.

There's no true data source that aggregate all the data that you look for (at least to my knowledge).

Definitely there is a lot of opportunity for him to learn a lot from this property if he is receptive to acquiring the knowledge.  

Is it better to find one that's close to where I live (Fairfax, VA), or one that has knowledge of the local jurisdictions that my properties will need to adhere to?

I actually had an initial phone call with the co-host that ended up lasting an hour because he kept giving me tips and local knowledge.