Our goal would be to buy something in the next 2-3 years. 

Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g., "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it.

Find what aligns with your goals, skills and also is available within your area.

Starting locally vs. out of state:I always recommend starting locally if it aligns with your goals.

I would start by finding areas you actually WANT to live and go from there.Picking a place to call home simply because it has a real estate market that you feel will fit your goals is a great way to end up miserable. 

Available terms, interest rates, overall goals should determine how much you want to finance on properties. 

I agree with @Ashish Acharya if you're interested in reinvesting the proceeds into another investment property and your goal is to minimize your tax liability a 1031 would work out well for you.

While this is a great and highly motivating goal, most people are either clueless or incorrect in their belief as to what is required to obtain this “lifestyle”.Understanding of the “how to” get there is further obscured by the misleading, and often patently false “pathways” sold by real estate educational MARKETING companies as workshops, upsold to association memberships, upsold to mentorships.

So the goal of DSCR is now to figure out the best real estate cash flowing strategy to pair with DSCR loans as you scale your portfolio. anyone looking for help going DSCR, feel free to reach out as I build my portfolio with these and help investors scale theirs as a lender.

How many deals have you done YTD and what is your goal?