Story I got was that she lives out of state, thought she had family local to help manage it but they are moving.

Quote from @John Friendas: Hey,My investing partner and I have reached an agreement where he would have the debt under his name and apply for it individually, and I would do the majority of the management (he is out of state and my income is half his).

I am willing to pay to leverage their connections, especially considering I am looking for my first out-of-state deal.

To date all I've received is email communications from the sponsors stating the deal failed.

I'm a passive investor and these properties are in a different state than I reside in so I'm not there in person often. 

The inspector for the buyers stated "this is a nice house" "done really well".

My wife and I heavily considered investing out of state. 

Once you hit a certain number of loans (check with your state dept of banking and finance or dept of business regulation), they might require you to have a license.

But I noted that places like North Tonawanda as @Pravit Jarriyapurttipong mentioned are actually outside of Erie County, it's in Niagara County, which follows the stricter landlord laws as New York State... https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/changes-in-nys-rent-la...Would you recommend sticking to Erie County boundaries for this purpose?

As for the third target market, Sacramento is close to you, it's a state capitol, relatively inexpensive, two major universities, great local culture...