I’m really interested in pursuing the out-of-state investment strategy (currently reading David Greene’s Long-Distance Real Estate Investing), and I’d love to meet and connect with some investors experienced with this model.

Your question has some built-in assumptions. 100% financing by itself is not necessarily a good or bad thing.Many people pursue 100% financing because they don't have cash.

"should a rezone be pursued" is exactly the thing that I ran into.

Which strategies and markets are you thinking of pursuing?

The deal is just too odd and risky to pursue for me. 

If so then you should have a serious conversation with your cpa to figure out the tax benefits of pursuing one strategy over another?  

Appraisers are not going to add value for something that is financed or leased, and if you're the only house in the radius of comps with paid off solar they won't have any comparisons to derive value from it.In the end it is really only advisable to pursue if you're going to own the home forever....while it is nearly impossible to determine if you'll own forever or not regardless of present circumstances.  

This mindset limits the size of investments I can pursue more than if I did not have this objective.   

Since you're not pursuing a real estate license, consider wholesaling to gain deal experience or help manage local properties to learn the day-to-day operations.

Thanks,JaredI'd only pursue this if there is an big upside for appreciation, or if you planned on keeping the house forever as a rental.Run the numbers, subtract 15% a year for vacancy and on going maintenance and repairs during each year, subtract 15% per year for maintenance and repairs to get it market ready once you decide to sell it.Example if you were to keep it for 5 years and sell at the end of five years:12x$200=$2400 year gross profit15% for vacancy, maintenance, repairs ($-360.00 per year)= $2040 gross profit per year15% set aside to repair, repaint, replace to get ready to sell on market = $1800 $7000-$8000 net for 5 years of rental.Appreciation over the term you would keep it would be the only incentive, and it could be a big reason why to rent it.