Fly back to Los Angeles after having paid $3K for flights, hotels, and rental cars knowing it saved you from making a bad decision :)

I would recommend taking a flight out to the city you choose and getting a feel for the land yourself as well as meeting real estate professionals who can show you around.

I live in the Kansas City area, but can jump on a flight when needed.

I find many in your situation will gravitate to notes.. if you truly looking for passive.. and you can do that quite easily in your local market.. you can find a very good reputable LOCAL HML who will place your funds in Local fix and flips and other short term deals and make you probably 8 to 12% ConCash with limited risk. you get to drive by the asset you get to see if you like it.. etc.. and in WA you can legally lend your self without a license on these non owner occ commercial purpose deals.. so that could be fun for you as well.there are top flight syndicators in the US>. in my mind the syndicator is the prime driver you want experience .. the deal is almost secondary.. a great syndicator will keep you moving forward a poor operator can much up the best deal.so it looks like you have 500 to 750 to start.. don't be in a hurry.... but I like financial products for this type of cash.or I would look at buying a nice MHP or something that could have professional management.. look east side cascades for better cash flow .

It rarely makes economic sense to hope of flights and visit properties for a week (assuming you have a W2 job) just to talk to general contractors, do walk throughs with subcontractors, etc. all to just get bids.  

I am just sitting in the Winnipeg airport waiting for my return flight to Vancouver.

So I made an offer on the one, it got accepted, and I booked a flight to Charlotte to have a look at that property in person, as well as the other two properties that I was interested in.

We immediately tore up the old carpet and put in laminate flooring all over including 3 flights of stairs (~$3.5k total for ~1500sqft). 

While deployed, we made extra pays...flight pay, combat pay, family separation, tax free, etc., and we had to be disciplined and set money aside for acquisitions.

My wife just walks in and says LOOK what I just bought.. and by the way I need an EM check for 10k and we are closing in 30 days Call Dan at the bank and get our loan set up  LOL.. that's who we roll.but then again I come home and say Honey I just found a great market now its ony a 6 hour flight away in Charleston SC but we are going to build spec homes there...