And if a property is owner occupied, how can you secure a loan with a hard money lender not being able to view the home to estimate repairs?

From their point of view they're seeking three primary things:Access to capitalControl of their dealCost of capitalThey likely have a lot of the first two so the only motivation they'd have to accept your money into their deal is either the third bullet. 

I've looked at it repeatedly because I love the country but have never been able to justify it to myself from an investment point of view.

Is it on a busy street, does it have a view, etc..

It can take up to three days to serve, then you can file in court after the 3-day period. 

Since you won't be close to the property, a PM will help you take care of everything from far away.

To save time we always get an accepted offer before viewing the property.

Just shop around online, look for properties similar to yours, add them to favorites and watch them to see how long it takes for them to rent.

(aside from the 1 or 2 homes that have stunning overlook views).When building out your buy box, are you all using the averages, or are you basing your min/max on the cream of the crop listing revenues, even when there aren't clear reasons as to why they are performing so much better than others?

The term Certified Broker is intentionally deceptive in my view.