I live a good distance from Jacksonville or I'd attend. 

It's been the best move I've ever made, but I was incredibly picky.I m in the same position ,I m planing fly out to OH next month to meet up a local consultant and to partner up with deals, the structure he provided is 50/50, means I invest money ,he invest effort (finding deals /rehab/finding tenants etc.all the heavy lifting )and we share everything, debt /profit/cash flow----50/50, buy and hold for long term on MF rental properties, the properties will be under trust agreement and with his name and my name as beneficiaries.I was still wondering what is the long distance partnership like in nowadays?

Run an ad in the school newspaper ("Not to late to live off campus," Not to late to stop the commute"). 

When your son graduates you may be left with a long distance rental which has dropped in price and you'll have to continue to hold before selling. 

The property is more likely to have positive cash flow, tenants are more likely to be longer term which means less turnover cost and most people are ok with commuting in Ottawa.

But on the flip side, is it close to mass transit that can appeal to commuters who can sacrifice some peace for convenience?

My biggest challenge at the time was distance, time, rehab cost and lack of knowledge of rock star contractors to say the least.

Likewise I am unable to make the math work within 2-3 hrs driving distance from Bay Area in terms of cash flow. 

I feel like I am going a good grip on what the final product should look like in the metrics side of things but seem to be having an issue with finding a good market for long distance investing.So my questions are...How do you all go about finding the market that works for you? 

If you haven't already, David Greene's book on long distance real estate investing will be a great asset to you.