But the steps are the same, just find a property where you ca make the numbers work and that has good upside and go for it. repeat that as soon as you have the downpayment for the next one and keep going. 

It doesn’t matter that the property might be in CA or TX.

In fact, I recently wrote a book about this that explains the laws in California, some of which are nationwide laws.

Just look at California as an example.

I live in California and have managed to put some money aside from my W2 job to hopefully get into my first rental property.

In some, like California, it's best to not even deal with that.Seconds can be very lucrative, particularly shortly after 2010.

You will need their bank account information to setup an auto-withdrawal.Do not ever give your bank account information to the tenant, however.Make sure you have this in writing, and that they consent to it.I see you're in California.

For investors like be being from California, we need to find markets out of state.

I'm a property manager/landlord in Greenville, South Carolina and have current tenants who are seeking to move to the Sacramento CA area.

@Jeff Sullivan - Jeff, CA to AL; that is quite a switch... :)