A great way to pick the brains of other investors in our area is to attend several of the monthly meetups.  

Missoula is surrounded by mountains and is quite landlocked but my realtor and I have an area picked out that is bound to grow due to some new amenities in the area.

@Curtis Yoder - thanks for the thoughts. yeah, after searching to buy for a few month... the prices seem to be up there. so we gave up and going to continue renting... and hopefully pick up some investment properties with my deposit money.  

You don't want to get sued for injuries on the job because the contractor picked up some random guy at Home Depot and he's not covered under any workers comp. insurance.

I know other investors who won't buy anything older than 1950 (or pick a year).

Great time to get into the market and there are plenty of educational portals to pick from once you decide what direction you decide is your best route.

Picking the best option has a lot of factors..

There are variations to it, but essentially you pick your farm area and go and study 50 homes within it.  

And I can't pick up a serious buyer from my open houses either

Last year I was able to pick up a rental property off market, by talking to the neighbor at one of my other properties.