Meetup is a fantastic app to find real estate meetings around you, and look for local REIA (real estate investor associations) and attend a bunch of meetings.

My experience has always been better with a local lender.With that said, I am reaching out to David Greene's The One Brokerage about a refinance.

Lastly, your going to want to get with local governance, a lot more then normal.

The key difference, though, was he spent months carefully getting to know the local architecs, reputable builders, and even a couple of niche design firms that specialize in modern builds for mid- to high-end buyers.

@Jeffrey Bourque Are you planning to finance this with a local bank or credit union?

P.S; We live in Wilmington NC so both markets would be "long distance" P.S.P.S there are no reasonably priced multi family properties local to us.

It seems you and your husband have the ability to make a property more desirable and I would try to stay local for the same reasons you listed. 

Hopefully, this is a useful example of what’s achievable with out-of-state investing, even with no local connections. 

Nashville, Dallas, etc etc)Yeah, I know states like Florida and Arizona have prohibited local municipalities from restricting non-owner occupied STRs.

More important than identifying target areas is establishing relationship with a local investor-friendly professional who has personal experience in investing in Cleveland.