In my experience, you can occasionally find some real gems that require little maintenance, can pick them up for a song, and they can cash-flow a few hundred dollars a month.

If not I’d say try to look for a market closer to home or where friends and family live so you have a reason to visit the area occasionally and mix business with pleasure.

APartments.com is typically used for larger properties, but you can occasionally find small properties listed there too.As for expenses, when you find a property you like, ask the listing agent for a detailed P&L and rent roll.  

After a little sleuthing in the county records it looks like it's owned by an older couple who live about 40 miles away, he (I assume it's him) comes a couple of times a year with someone (not the same person twice) to help him wack down weeds in the yard and he occasionally takes a box of junk out of the house, while the back yard is full of old junk cars.

You can occasionally hit up to 1.2-1.3%, but that's pretty much where it caps out unless you start doing significant value add.

@Michael Milillo it looks like there’s an occasional one in Fishkill.

Occasionally there are towns that are more lenient and will grandfather it in or allow you to use it as an “in-law suite”.

Occasionally you can find these types of sponsors on crowdfunding but they are more rare.

I visit the property occasionally for personal reasons, but mostly to address maintenance issues and finish cleanout.How do I handle income & tax deductions?

I’ve had far better luck with on-market deals than wholesale, but I also realize that I’m not on the top of any of the local wholesalers’ lists, so I may not even see the good deals they do occasionally find.