It seems I could scale my portfolio faster with an appreciation focus.Does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on this?

I would suggest looking into Hemlane, I have worked with the CEO personally and they have a great product that I recommend to all self managing landlords. 

We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

I recommend you include some of your key qualification criteria in the advertisement.

I'd love to hear what other people are doing and recommend; tips and tricks for guarding a vacant property. 

I just sent you a PM with a good recommendation! 

Since you’re considering relocating, I can’t recommend the house hacking investing strategy enough.

I'd build up and go for at least 2 units but 3 stories is better. 3 story walk up apartments account for almost 65% of apartment developments round he country. this is what I'd recommend on your lot. this is 35' tall and we do it in columbus oh 

Great tenant that always pays on time - been there for 5 years Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I work with a lot of househackers and they're typically on the 12 month cycle, rinse and repeat.While the proposition of acquiring an investment property outside of your market in a "landlord friendly" state may sound appealing, i would recommend you stay local for now and househack another couple of properties over the next few years until you've got some more time / experience under your belt.you would need a management company to cover your property that is outside of your market which would not only take 8-10% of your gross it would also leave you a bit vulnerable to a property management company that you A.)know nothing about and B.)you won't have the experience or cashflow or proximity to deal with any headaches that may arise.i would recommend staying local and househacking your way along for now and then maybe hire a local property management company initially to work with your current/local properties to get a taste of what to expect if and when you begin investing outside of your market.