I would advise finding an investor friendly realtor when you choose a market.

Low barrier to entry, low taxes, landlord friendly, some amazing class A and B suburbs and a strong urban core. 

Ex.

Favorable Legal Framework for Foreign InvestorsGermany offers a straightforward and investor-friendly property market, with laws that protect the rights of both local and international investors.

A lifelong friend and I are motivated to (virtually) meet and connect with those in REI working in the Pittsburgh area.I'm active duty military and living in California with two rental properties (one in Virginia Beach & one in Pittsburgh) and my close friend owns a single family in Baltimore.  

In my market, which is a fairly economical place to build, I am friends with full time builders that are in their properties about $150k/door for construction level finishes.  

On the topic of building inspectors, make them your best friend.

I'm an investor-friendly agent in Cincinnati.

BC and ON are very tenant friendly.

This is not yoursituation, but just to walk through the different thought processesin Holding/Selling that a friend of mine is going through.Helped my friend getinto the Self Storage business and walked him through the wholeprocess from evaluating the market, selecting a site, developing thesite, systems, financing, insurance, etc.