Nearby in Asheville and very new as well.

Newer brokerage policies in our mls have more clearly separated listing and buyer broker fees, so you can likely interview nearby buyer brokers who will provide the service for a set cost or possibly work with you to represent you on an agreed upon sales commission where if seller doesn’t offer to cover it, there’s a minimum you’ve agreed to pay to broker on any purchases that are realized through their service.

Because we're new to real estate investing and the real estate tax process, part of me feels like having a local CPA would bring a level of comfort knowing they are nearby to walk us through everything.  

if you're going to make a major purchase like this it has to be worth going there in person, potentially multiple times; setting up a team; looking at properties in person; etc.here's some good reading about what to expect.https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1171104-the-m...Yes , definitely we will be going to look at the property and the area nearby once we get any deal .

RUSH & HAVE SECURITY CAMERAS STATIONED AS MANY PLACES AS POSSIBLE EVEN IF OUTSIDE A NEARBY BUT indirect NEIGHBORS

The main ones are in one neighborhood, and he's said he wants to sell them all or none given what he's seen happen with investors renting to anyone nearby.

If there's colleges nearby, that's also a plus.

I am in Alhambra nearby.  

I started in Berwyn and have done most of my investing there or in nearby areas like Bellwood or Cicero.

Because investing in real estate in general seems to offer more of an advantage than just stockpiling extra money from our W2 job into a high yield savings account.