I am open to looking outside the "local" area but for my first property I would really like to be within driving distance.

There are also four other homes on my street for sale in easy walking distance so a small "glut" has developed.I paid cash for the new place figuring I'd recoup much, if not all, of the money selling my current house so that is one issue I have with doing a rental.

I know someone who build a "T" from 2x4s to help him hoist the sheets up to the ceiling.His other trick was to secure a 2x4 to the walls, at a distance from the ceiling just slightly more than the thickness of the drywall.

@Timothy HoodKeep in mind there needs to be a sufficient amount of similar type building within a reasonable distance.

Identify an area near you (it could be where you live, work or your daily commute) and get to know the properties, the prices or recent sales, recent listings and then look for opportunities (vacant houses, overgrown lawns, etc).

Our property profiles include neighborhood rent rage data, demographics, commute times, sales histories, rental trends, school info, etc.

Since I moved into my first investment -a 3 unit multi family townhouse in Clinton Hill-I have been tuning in quite regularly to the podcast on my quick commute to Manhattan.  

Moving such a long distance has a lot of moving parts involved.

Who knows, maybe someone on here would be interested in investing from a distance.  

And  a relative of mine was loving Aliso Viejo in a relationship which might not be a bad commute to Irvine.