My potential solutions to the 3 issues are 1) The internet (Trulia, Zillow, Rent-o-meter, etc.)   2) Touring the competition (similar properties) Asking them about their rents and occupancy3) Talking to the current property manager and other local property managers 4) Reaching out to local real estate brokers about the rental listings and the property in general 5) Trying to connect with local investors/landlords thru BP and REIA meets 6) Asking the current owner of the property for the last 3 years of financials before its under contract (probably wont be willing but its worth a shot)  7) Reaching out to the big commercial brokers like CBRE who have closed transactions in the surrounding areas8) Somehow get REIS, which is an real estate data and analytic firm to "demo" their platform to obtain more info on the market As for now these are my potential solutions that I am working on but I would like the community to help me find other solutions or provide some advise. 

One way to look at it is to consider how long your tour in Japan might be.  

In my case the guy kept hounding me via email after a tour, and I told him one million bucks was my price.

Now, these are on the MLS, so competing against retail buyers.At the end of the day, say there are 20 properties that look good to me at the right price, I'm leaning towards doing the tour, estimating the cost to rehab, and then making quite low offers, in the hopes that at least one or two would get accepted at a price point that makes the deal work for me.So my question is, does this strategy (in bold above) make sense?

In your case if deciding to go remote to one of those cities it would be wise to tour the buildings you want to consider for purchase yourself and to interview property managers in person to get a feel for how they do business.  

If anyone is interested in checking out KWC, #cashflow2go group will be doing an investment property limo tour on the 25th of March.

Go on some property tours and see the kinds of assets that are available, at what price, where.

But I sent out 100 handwritten letter and have received 8 offers to tour the property in just one week.

In terms of what to do, I'm planning to spend the $50 for a title search and I have a local agent touring the house (I'll drive up if I can or as a follow up) and would plan to buy title insurance.

We FaceTimed with the prospective landlord and got a virtual tour of the property.