I am looking for some people to connect with in that area that may have more experience as we are out of state investors and have heard that Mississippi has great opportunities for cash flow and for people starting out in this industry. 

Every time I go to bid on property on civic source people are bidding it up to or over market value.

They are projected to add 250,000 people in the next few years.

My family also has benefited from really high appreciation in the last 10 years due to a lot of northern Europeans, specially Germans, British and Swedish people who have a higher incomes and net worths than locals, buying a lot of the real estate in the nice locations. 

Their goal is to put you and most people reading BP out of business. 

I would network with contractors out in your area, or you can find people online (VAs).

While this isn't common, I have know people that bought their first rental and when tenant moved out, had caused close to $20k in damages and skipped town after one year of living in place.  

I guess, how do I decide where to commit my research to before contacting all these people and sticking it out.

You will be dealing with a bunch of people who want to see a return.

They have a revolving door of people. 2 months down the road and no one know you and what they promised.