I also will likely be moving within the next year to the West Coast, so I'm concerned that investing locally won't actually provide the benefit to manage myself.Am I overthinking it?

5 min. walking distance from Mercer can be on the west side of 75 which not a good neighborhood. 

You can find 1 or 2 BD condos or townhomes around Tucker, Norcross, Doraville, Smyrna, Decatur, West Marietta, Mabelton, Austell and more... 

I have properties in all above areas, so I know these areas are doing well (some properties in mid west appreciated 25% to 50% within last 12 months alone). 

New construction 2 bed / 2 bath.It is possible to get a townhouse in that price range for sure though, so you may want to consider that.In general the cheaper properties around Kelowna will be in Rutland and on the West side (West Kelowna) will be found in the Glenrosa area.Check out realtor.ca and you can get a feel for prices.The city has seen a massive increase in prices since 2016 (double in many cases). 

To answer your question start on west side 48221 & 48227 and Eastside 48224.

Things just keep getting more and more crazy for you folks out on the west coast. 

This is not the wild west, you are operating a business in which laws govern your operations.

we do a lot of infill building.. this only works in HIGHLY desirable areas @Wayne Brooks  as Wayne states not sure were your thinking the value play is here.now there are plenty of folks that buy cheapo lots in FLA like Lehigh acres then sell for a few grand more on contracts those are the land flipping guru's you see that's what they teach.. and there are millions upon millions of lots available for this type of activity generally in FLA  and West Texas  AZ CA and other areas that had massive land speculation booms in the turn of the century.. think Lancaster Palmdale in CA there are million plus platted lots there that get traded around at tax sales every year.to find land with value to builders you need infill in established areas.. close to down towns.. in areas that are regentrifying .. lots that have shadow plats beneath them. or you can split using a lot confirmation technique ( common in Portland)  you need to work areas of Scarcity .. 

So after reading Bigger Pockets books and watching podcasts I thought it might be good to start in the mid west: IL, IN, OH, WI or in the south east AL, SC or AR.