Etsy and Artfire selling hand made or custom itemsEbay stores selling items you find in your area that others can't find or get easilyCreate a blog discussing something you are good or passionate about for advertising incomeStart a youtube channel for advertising incomeStart a services based business doing something you are good at and advertise on CraigslistCheck the Craigslist gigs area for one time quick gigs you can get that work around your scheduleUber or lyft as a driverHouse hack, or buy a house and rent out all but your roomWhile saving move your money from bank to bank to gain their 3 or 6 month bonuses like $300 bonus for holding your money in their savings for 90 days, then move it to the next bank offering that.Sell everything you are no longer usingSell photographs to stock photo websites like istock, depositphotos, etcBuy pallets of overstock/returns to ship and have Amazon sellBuild websites for companies using wordpressOffer to maintain the social media for all business owners you know, and take a monthly fee for some extra facebook and twitter time.Become a long distance digital assistant for some REI investors that need you to analyze deals, juggle calls, etc allowing you to learn along the wayOf course any job working in the industry you are looking to get into like an working with a realtor, investor, broker, mortgage agent, etc would be preferred since it gives you further advantages in future investments.Let us know what you decide to do!

Rentometer for automated valuationsCheck current listings in HotPads, Craigslist, Oodle, newspapers -- if 5+ unit try LoopnetCall For Rent signs you see in that area of townCheck out property management websites; they typically have all of their available units listed onlineOne way to get a baseline is to check Section 8 government website for the areaHave a realtor run rental comps for you

Well, after it was bought, I visited the house and learned that the house got caught in a fire a month prior.

Several websites you can go to on your own to help you decide if this is the area/property for you: Zillow for broad-stroke comps and what the sale/rental market looks like (how many rentals there are like yours and what they’re renting for), www.city-data.com for demographic data (like number of occupied rentals), and www.harriscountyfemt.org for flood plain data.

While it is great to visit family, we are ready for a place to call our own.  

(point of reference I just closed an escrow for one of my sellers on a FIXER for 1.4m) @Alex Deacon I have run nowhere near 1,000 properties in Pittsburgh :/ and the only plan I have of visiting (I've never been) was to meet my agent, property manager etc in person.

When you visit a potential long-distance rental market in person, what are you looking for?  

I've read through the Assessor's website, and I see you can get a reduction on the assessment for the current year.

Finally, it provides sample letters you can customize and use.NOLO web site is a great resource for state law.

Current have a web site but the company apparently has gone out of business.