Definitely don't know your situation or what factors are leading you to out of state investing but if you are just starting out to REI in general in principle you probably have contacts, resources and opportunities in the market you live in that would be easier and more fruitful than OOS. 

I'm glad you are able to see the fruits of all your labor and have an end an sight.

Opportunities to be had, but we do not have any low hanging fruit, deals need to be made in order to be successful. 

Remember, an exit strategy is everything when it comes to deals like this.I would personally go for the lower-hanging fruit and pull out the equity you have to go after something that would be more efficient - you may end up having bigger problems on your hands with the conversion and a history of water leaks, cracks, etc.

Keep doing your thing and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Still plenty of low hanging fruit to invest in rather than create a matrix to make a marginal deal look like a winner. 

My suggestion is U area are good locations but if you’re relying only on students you’re putting all your eggs in one basket..

I also leave bottled water in the fridge and a snack basket of snacks on the kitchen counter.

Here for example a value play is to find a built out shopping center where the developer overvalued an out parcel.Then it gets sold as a short sale or a foreclosure.The parcel you can easily then find a corporate client to buy it outright or do a ground lease or triple net deal on it.It's all about buying it low enough going in to have success for the hold or the exit.For the lots as Rich mentioned we have big companies buying them up for 2,000 each for a whole subdivision.The developer will wait years and then cash out from the investment after holding costs.Some parts of the country are building homes now but others are still in a hibernation mode with little activity happening.I would look for low hanging fruit (developed lots,commercial outparcels graded and cleared and plans approved already,etc.).I would not go after raw land if you do not have experience where the heavy lifting and high risk is involved.

Let's plan a meetup soon to dive into some fruitful discussions.