They had equity in a rental and wanted to try their hand at flipping.

If you live there you probably have a good handle on the subtle market dynamics.One significant risk of buying any property out of state is that you have a lot less knowledge and first hand experience with all the nuances of that specific market.

Since your a hands on person and have contractor contacts.  

I flew out there every 3 months hand picking properties from listings.

Normally they would mix the concrete by hand. 

(The exception would be the rare deal where the property changes hand for a price far below real market value).The sub to or wrap adds a certain degree of ADDITIONAL risk of failure.  

Judges seem to have a lot of time on their hands there.

After we completed the repairs (all cosmetic stuff) we handed it off to my property manager. 

I plugged them into Invelo to find the owner information and have begun sending hand-written letters.

It was a lot of hands-on work, many business expenses and some capital expenses but it was worth it.