And fly out to the locations you're considering investing in. 

If you do go out of state start with a location that you can drive to or fly to and from in one day, maybe AZ or NV. 

I am curious as I am buying my first investment home in Tampa Fl. I

I see contemporary houses when I search and I wonder why people want to stay in a house that looks just like the one they have at home.As a PM in FL I agree with what you are saying of the need to stand out. 

Your resident might say they had to fly all over the country to attend meetings in person since their internet was out.  

I am not able to fly to meet up at the moment and probably won't be able to for 6 months or so.

Fly out and visit it.We have rejected several offers in the past for buyers who didn’t visit the property and put in an inspection contingency.

I won't ever close on another OOS property without walking it first but that involves paying for lots of flights and hotel/rental car costs if flying out there to make an offers but the $1500 to $3000 would be worth the cost to me to save on future headaches. 

Many times, when you fly from some developing countries to the US and you land at a US airport, you wonder which country is the developed one. 

Do you want it to be just a weekend drive away or are you comfortable with locations where you need to fly?