I think a more ambitious strategy would be to "flood the zone with value" - specifically, pick a few listings in the geography you are interested in that are being mismanaged and propose your plan to that owner just as an ice breaker.

However, downsides include regulatory restrictions on bank lending, many institutions that restrict concentration and geographies, and other headaches and issues that arise when dealing with a slower-moving bank.DSCR loans are the option that has completely changed the BRRRR lending landscape in the last few years.

They have full real estate cycle experience, conservative leverage at around 40%, diversified thousands of properties across geography, and tax that they feel are recession resistant.

This gives much better diversification protection across geographies, asset types, strategies, investment subclasses etc. versus putting all the eggs into one basket.The downside is that it's not for everyone, and a person has to be comfortable with turning over control to someone else.

Growing, Maintaining, looking to adjust to maintain returns, Looking to reduce risk....These two voices will steer you to the geography and type of real estate best for you. 

And, they have a wide variety of structures and risk/reward ratios for different types of investors (from no leverage to leverage, different sub asset classes, different geographies, etc).

This will give you the 'street smarts' to expand your geography more comfortably. 

Follow large scale changes in the geography....Amazon in Virginia, DHS opening St Elizabeth's Campus.These glacial changes won't go away, and the 20-25% realization in property values will be well worth som missing stoves.

., geography, property type, financial distress indicators).BatchSkipTracing: Offers services to help you find accurate contact information for property owners.PropStream: Provides comprehensive data for real estate investors, including leads on distressed properties, motivated sellers, and detailed property information.Social Media and Real Estate Forums: Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and specific real estate forums (e.g., BiggerPockets) can be valuable for networking, finding mentors, and discussing strategies with other wholesalers.Bandit Signs: These are signs you see on the side of the road with messages like "We Buy Houses Cash."

If you are willing to expand your geography to a 45min - 60min commute to Raleigh or Durham, then you can get properties with much better returns, but you are trading location.