If your leasing application process is thorough and well thought out, and if your lease agreement has been well drafted by your local attorney and if it includes clauses that permit you/your property manager enough latitude to maneuver and anticipate undesirable tenant behaviors, both actions and inactions, and you have operational processes which align with enforcement of your lease, then you've done all you can do to reduce this inherent risk of an undesirable tenant.  

Reward in RE prices for risk of course.As for horizontal I get mine from local community banks ..

I live overseas and don't have ready access to a local market to research, understand, and invest on my own.

If you have a local group to whom I could present, I do give out handouts. 

Not sure if this is helpful, but I am local to Columbia, SC and have interviewed a few local companies which all seemed horrendous.

I have a close associate with a large project there and the local banks have turned off the spick-et on funding his developments and these are very large multi thousand acre deals.

Ultimately, the decision depends on your goals, the local market, and the potential for growth.Good luck!

@Kieran Collings - I'm an investor, flipper, and own and run a local property management company.  

I’d suggest checking out real estate networking events (local or online) like REIAs or BiggerPockets.

If you're investing in real estate out of your home state don't you have, at minimum, a Realtor, Contractor, Property Manager, Lawyer, etc. in the state where you're looking to create a local presence?