By your description, it is indeed a great area - we were just there in May to scout neighborhoods.  

If you use Bird Dogs, please take take a few minutes to fill out our Bird Dog (Lead Scout) survey!

The idea is we scout neighborhoods looking for distressed housing, generate a list of leads, and then sell an exclusive list of leads to an end buyer (wholesaler/Investor). 

All of a sudden that B area sure looks like a D if you were to go scout it out yourself!  

When I first move I was definitely going to rent for just a bit regardless, just because I wouldn't want a situation where I'm looking for actual homes out-of-state, especially if I go in with someone else I would want to give as much to the deal as possible in terms of sweat-equity, which would include some scouting! 

Wholesaler,s use scouts whom are called birddog's.

CIty-Data, AreaVibes, and Neighborhood Scout are some great ones.Online Resources

The challenge I face is the limited ability I have to scout and investigate opportunities in person.  

I live in Orange County, CA and I've been scouting the market for the last year and a half.

So someone could review the upcoming properties, scout the addresses/locations for comps to determine ARV, look at the subject property as best as can (sometimes they are still occupied!)