You can broaden your effectiveness as an investor by expanding the use of tools you have at your disposal. 

There are massive fishing tournaments on the lake hosted at a marina next door.

I have always wanted a place near the beach in FL for fishing but this was always the reason that held me back.

Is it a place that you grew up vacationing, that you used to live near, some niche hobby that has a travel/tourism element (ice fishing, hiking National Parks that aren't the 6 that everyone knows, motorcycle rallies, etc.), or some other specific knowledge that would give you an unfair advantage over other investors?

CFPs should be a different kettle of fish, as real estate is covered in the basic courses, and there were questions on the CFP exam about real estate.

I don’t have the time to fish for the best deals here, so I’d like to look somewhere in the midwest where I can buy a house for under 50k and not need to finance the initial purchase.  

As I go fishing and I find a fix and flip or a wholesale deal I wouldn't mine moving forward with it but my main goal is buy and hold to build up cash flow and appreciation.

Please feel free to reach out to the original posters and see who they decided to go with.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/280...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/575/topics/33...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/494...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/241...In the event that you can't connect with a local CPA - you may want to broaden your search to a CPA that works with clients remotely.

This is a great way to talk to some big fish in your market who will purchase multiple properties a year from you

glad to help broaden your thoughts, and yea on the positive side i was able to pick from a couple dumpsters last year and managed to get a complete 12 piece kitchen cabinet set that just needed a few new hinges and now its in my garage waiting for the next investment that might need a kitchen upgrade. so living near that pit has some benefits.