Hi there,I am visiting Denver, Dallas and Raleigh at the end of this month to get a more hands on feel for the investing market in all three of these cities.

It's a good way to build a portfolio without getting ahead of yourself.

As @Chris M. mentioned, you can have your mortgage broker/lender go through the process ahead of time to allow you to be more competitive.

My ultimate long term goal WAY down the road is to have a multifamily in just about every city that I like to visit.  

He may tell you if you have done several of these with him to go ahead and possibly a smaller fee just for him to look them over after you have made your changes.

Or are simply "planning for the future," in which case I think you might be getting way ahead of yourself.

I am from Tampa, happy to connect you with some RE investors, investment groups, brokers, and just some fun places of interest to live, eat, or visit.

Another option is visit construction products store. 

I have the cash for the down payment at $318,000.On one hand, I’d have more cash to get a head start on my next investment and more cash for emergencies.

I have been visiting family most every year and now that I've retired I have been residing in both countries during the year I sold my ranch in Oz in 2010 and bought my first sfr in the central valley in 2012 cash during the next couple of years I tried to by others but could not get finance,as it turns out for various reasons i.e. no credit score for lack of history for the years I was away, foreign assets and income is not acceptable here in the U.S.