I've lived in every time zone in the US plus a handful outside of the U.S. 

None of them seem to line up with any of the standard timezones.

There are banking laws and tax laws you have to sort out with a local (to you) attorney, you have to figure out how not to get taken advantage of, (people aren't always honest about paying people), how do you set up title, escrow, financing, locating buyers, locating sellers, time zone differences and on and on.That isn't an "it can't be done" answer, it probably Can be done, but it's just the beginning list of what you have to resolve first.

I spent more time fighting for variances for a small garage I built, than for the three unit apartment building I was putting up at the same time.  Zoning

I advocate virtual wholesaling somewhere you can easily pick up on building codes, climate, timezone and culture.

Plus same time zone.  

Mountain Time, I'm told--not a time zone, more of a style. 

This idea turns into a full time job if you dont have the right crews/teams in place. we manage STRS over 4 time zones and its really tough between guest relations, maintenance, cleaning, etc...

I think this is the most important aspect of a great property manager, you can make relationships at your local REIA or BP and build your skills in this area, but I have heard the relief on the other side of the phone when I can respond "been there, done that, here's how I think this will go and how we will proceed" to resolve those major events that inevitably will happen in your real estate career given enough time.Final thought - I am unaware of successful international investors self-managing...does anyone know how folks could profitably manage given the distance and large time zone changes? 

If we were to list ourselves, we would probably spend about 1500 but I fully acknowledge the trade offs and opp cost of missing work, time saved dealing with inquiries and vetting, flying there, showing the property, the preoccupation and stress, and such while juggling full time job with time zone difference, etc.