My husband works in logistics and often has commercial realtors he met with taking out and looking at office properties.

love the idealism, but the ground logistics are incredibly difficult.

It seems good on the surface to want to be OOT but you're right, it makes much more logistical sense to have our first purchase locally. 

I negotiated directly with the owner who was awesome and I had my father in-law to help with the logistics as he has put together many real-estate deals.

" Meaning figure out the logistics or the whole and then break apart the pieces till they get bite size. 

Diversifying into real estate is an intriguing thought, but: I don't know anything about property managementI don't know how to find a "good deal"I don't know what the logistics involved in owning out-of-state areWhy real estate over just moving things to VTSAX or something?

The original contract should also be written in such a way that gives the wholesaler outs in case they can't find a buyer.States vary on the actual logistics, but this is the basic concept.  

I was also thinking that 1031ing into turnkey provider properties may be a logistically easier option, but since I want to treat my real estate investing as a small business, I'm adverse to there being a middle man agency.

The logistics of management would be difficult.

Do you think the cost is higher in DC because of the logistics (higher traffic and difficulty getting to job sites, more code restrictions, sites tend to be smaller and more difficult to stage material in, etc.)