So here in the (hopefully) not too distant future I'd like to get my first deal underway!

What difficulties could a newbie encounter while trying to invest in a distant market?

They do not show if the deceased individual owned a house.When I get the basic probate information, I start to drill down into obituary listings and real estate income tax records to determine if there is a house and whether a spouse might still be living there, as well as to glean some basic information about the administrator, i.e. is that person a son or daughter, a distant relative, etc.  

I've used close and distant lenders. 

BUT I really do not understand the basic premise that cause people to think small distant requirements make people safe from people who have committed crimes.First. 

My total bill last month was $2800 which put's me on track thus far for over 33k per year not including tax returns.I should disclose that I have another business that keeps me traveling pretty much half the year.Our Real Estate business operation looks like this:Property manager handles tenants and collects rents, he deposits all rents into our accounts and coordinates the rent roll with bookkeeping, they cut him a check for his gross collected rent management fee, bank statements are automatically sent to CPA's office for them to reconcile against business credit card statements, they also handle 95% of day to day financial operations from there to include paying contractors, setting up utilities, paying company bills ,bank deposits etc. for 4 and now 5 entities with the short term rental llc.We have a initial goal of 100 doors so I it's pretty easy to see this cost jumping significanly in the not so distant future.

Were looking to purchase another one in the not too distant future.

I have at least $20K that I can put towards a deal and have access to private money, but want to raise my confidence before jumping into a distant market.

I have at least $20K that I can put towards a deal and have access to private money, but want to raise my confidence before jumping into a distant market.

At 10 units, you have a little scale.The true cost of 3rd party management is not the fees...it's the management of vacancy and maintenance costs...fees are a distant 3rd.