They have close family in the area they invest, perhaps even living in the investment property itself like their child who is a college student and rents other rooms in the house to friends, or their sibling or parent.

That may be a little too aggressive but I do enjoy landlord friendly states as opposed to the tenant friendly ones.

Especially in a high interest rate environment where cash flows on long term rentals are muted and there is significant capital required to purchase and list on airbnb.I live near NYC but would invest out of state in an airbnb / landlord friendly state.

Besides a declining population and tenant-friendly laws, you have to deal with the fact that neighborhoods can be as small as a city block in many cases.

The Rentastic (and other RE focused systems) do seem way more simple, and user friendly than QBO.

Hello Friends,I own a 1982-built ground-level condo (one unit above, one below).

Low barrier to entry, low taxes, landlord friendly, some amazing class A and B suburbs and a strong urban core. 

At that time, my friend encouraged me to get into real estate with the idea of creating passive income and wealth in future (via appreciation).

Hey, I’m an investor friendly agent over here in Rochester.

But Mathew's comments above have given me pause, as most of my friends in the neighborhood that could afford the rent of a new condo have a car (or two).