I generally recommend if you're not going to buy a property in the city/market where you currently live, the next best place to look is where you have family (and presumably a place that you'll visit relatively often and easily).What is your price point and are you looking for turn-key properties or something along the lines of a "fixer upper", assuming you buy in Peoria or a similar priced Midwest market?

A good ol fashion phone call or house visit would probably solve your problem. 

There are places that are tenant friendly and then there is California which is at another level completely.Have you thought about buying elsewhere? 

It really reminds me of where i grew up in Cupertino Ca when tech took off and the orchards were turned into housing. 

While many out-of-state investors may purchase properties without an in-person visit, first-time buyers or those new to real estate are strongly advised to conduct a site visit.

I am currently located in The Bay Area, California and I am little nervous about  investing out of state but I thought I would give other cheaper markets a shot other than my backyard which is expensive.

Some high and lowlights:- I had one tenant that brought German cockroaches in and then blamed it on me- Same tenant asking if her daughter can visit but failed to mention it was 5 more very noisy people- another tenant having constant loud arguments with his gf- tenant saved some of my stuff when the house flooded due to a pipe burst and another time during a monster rain storm.

-We visited in December. 

thanks for your time and help rent to retirement works directly with build to rent developers like us around the country once they are framed up. you are buying properties pretty much at market value but with a hand holding. you can work directly with a builder or directly with them. they are just an intermediary. they take 5% on what we make as a builder but have a large list of investors and a systemized approach to selling new builds. if you want to get a better deal I'd recommend directly contacting builders and building it yourself. fly to the market. spend 2 days, tour new builds, get a feeling for how it's going. if your builder isn't building multiple at a time then I wouldn't recommend working with them. rent to retirement is a well oiled and well run machine. they've had their ups and downs with dozens of transactions in florida but modified their process. they are well known and established and transparent. if you have a more specific market and feel confident in your ability to vet deals try it out. happy to talk more my info is in my signature. we work directly with them to sell new builds and no organization is perfect but I have good things to say about them as a builder and potential build to rent developer that sells build to rent triplexes and single family homes through them to end buyers in California like the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego 

So a question, haha, and forgive me if this sounds incredibly naive - how about getting a property manager or someone else with boots on the ground to do the underwriting by visiting in person etc.