They are different prices, depending upon the model you select.

Joshua,It's fairly easy you select a builder and the bank gets them approved or use one the bank already has approved. 

When you buy halfway across the country and expect a turnkey process where someone or some company is doing all of the detailed work, such as property selection, renovation work, and property management, you are entirely reliant on their ability. 

I'm looking to do a gut rehab on a 2-3 unit property in the next 6-12 months and am in the process of selecting my team.

Looking online is better than nothing, but selected pictures never tell the full story. 

Cold-calling is all but a dead-art, but the principles remain. 

-Landlord reserves all rights to reject any or all applicants that does not meet the selection criteria set by the landlord.

What advice would you offer to someone with no experience to date with rentals in terms of selecting the best location to look for properties? 

That, a few podcasts, a few select books, and a couple of subscriptions choke full of info material (less than 100$/month), maybe a couple mentorship programs (for less than 2K/year), and a lot of action on your part and you'll be a lot better than paying $$K for "gurus".To rephrase, do you have more money than you know what to do with or an urgent need to get it to work for you, together with a lot of time on your hands ready to take massive action?

For help with the section-8 process, it's very important to have a PM that's familiar and connected with the HUD programs in the selected market.