We plan to 100% travel to the area that we are going to be purchasing before making a purchase to meet people, network, and hopefully build a solid team. 

@Luke Bricca Yesss...my heart is really in renovating and giving houses a new life (did that with my own house pretty much) but alas I live in the Bay Area so there is nothing I can afford here....or anywhere nearby really... plus a small kid (so travel is hard), so hard to travel frequently and supervise a contractor, etc. 

I found all sorts of things to reference for an eviction including excessive damage to the property, signs of an animal, lack of yard maintenance, oil spill on driveway, smoke detectors removed, the unit smelled of smoke, appliances that came with the unit moved off site ect... 

@Brian Garlington, I actually do travel to Columbus myself a few times a year at least.

He's gone above and beyond to meet with me despite him always traveling and has provided me with endless resources like contract templates, guides, calculators and a whole library of books.

Markets that are close to travel to are good places to start.

Hi Folks, not sure if this thread is being monitored,  but I have a couple of single family homes in tulsa that i'm trying to rent out as a mid-term rentals (to traveling nurses etc).

I also like to have my phone handy showing the final comp set pricing on the traveler view on Airbnb at the same time.I think starting out slow is good.

The fire dept just makes sure there are 2 and smoke detectors 

And, as Nathan noted, you are likely giving up huge appreciation potential, which will likely never be replaced by cash flow.But at the end of the day, if you are in a declining market in LA and are able to find great deals in higher cash flow areas, taking into account the likelihood of needing to outsource everything and additional travel costs to visit the properties a couple times per year, and you don't really care about appreciation, then it could work for you.