In my opinion, the best "first step" is to find a local REIA to attend. 

You could also reach out to @Jonathan Klemm who is local as well.

Having watched many prior co-workers get paid, cash their check at the casino, and promptly deposit it all into a slot machine I can tell you with pretty good certainty that casinos don't have a positive effect on disposable income and good use of the existing income in the area surrounding :)Are there solid local employers OTHER than the casino in a 15-minute drive? 

But if you're more into those value-add deals, definitely start local!

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

If you want to chat sometime I am local. 

I've done it multiple times on primary residence and was just able to do it on an investment with a local CT bank. 

Is there someone local who handles these sales? 

If you’re looking for multifamily deals in NC, try connecting with local commercial brokers who specialize in multifamily properties—they often have access to off-market deals.

To be honest, I´m in the Maintenance & Construction for corporate businesses for some US companies in Mexico and we do some Real Estate down here also, but it´s way much different than the US, so I have much to learn from a lot of people around here and as @Julio Gonzalez, I think this is pretty much the right pad and place to start and to break my fears to start all over again from scratchAlso, I´ld like to hear more from @Justin Brickman why he voted for his city, pros and cons, it will help to read from a local...As I said before, thank you all guys for taking the time to write in this post and share some experienceDo you plan to owner occupy. $40k will not get you a non owner occupied San Diego property unless you find some unlikely alternate financing.