Interesting, I am an active investor, we also have a team and ask OOS clients almost the opposite: we require them to come to Milwaukee and check out some neighborhoods and houses together in order to make sure we are on the same page.

My number 1 tip would be to go off market and find owner that wants to sell at a discount / prefers speed and convenience. 

At first, he was anxious about having multiple tenants under one roof, but with the right house rules spelled out up front, it turned into a solid monthly cash fow for him.

My experience has always been better with a local lender.With that said, I am reaching out to David Greene's The One Brokerage about a refinance.

Lots of great info on this page! 

I have 25 others that I have read and are valuable.

They should be able to teach you about asset risk, neighborhood risk, lay out A, B, C and D class areas, have stats on delinquency trends, vacancy trends, and other variable cost projections. 

I was told I could get 65k out in a HELOC (90%).  

Feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions!

This is a great first step into your financial future.