I wouldn’t move into the house because I currently own in a better neighborhood close by.Have they made it easier to get heloc’s for investment properties.

It's shifting to a model of a big anchor, a Target or a Costco, and lots of little businesses in that same shopping center. 

I currently invest in state; I find it is easier to manage.

This is also why you will see most deals in the not so favorable areas as it is easier for them to prey upon those sellers.

@Henry Clark When counting units and sizes in step 1, should climate controlled units be excluded if someone was to only target the non climate controlled drive up market?

Like many in the STR community we has switched our target from STRs to Boutique Hotel investing.

The subgroups are usually smaller and easier to get to know people.

What financial targets do you have?  

Ask them how well they know the neighborhoods in your target market.It all boils down to their experience working with out of state investors.

We were thinking about this now because it's hard to find good deals in our price range, so thought it might be easier to put it into a bigger deal but sounds like that's not such an option.