I'd start looking at properties that are in desirable rental locations.

It's no guarantee but it's a good place to start.

When and if you ever go out of state you'll still have to start and keep filing that pesky FTB 3840 with the state.  

My advice if you could build a small team with payment of 50% or some sort of percentage of your spreads as payment .8 director of your marketing campaigns it will be that employees job to buy things like the Deal Automator that makes marketing easier and more consolidated and less all over the place Carry what did Deal Automator does is take all tools you need as an REI and consolidated into one platform

If you are starting out, you have to be the one that makes the calls.

The kind of help that I needed when I was starting out.  

You'll benefit greater from the appreciation and loan paydown in the long term and in the short term it's not much more to manage a duplex/triplex compared to a single family if you're managing yourself.In the end, I would give yourself a few months to talk and deliberate, but the best way to get going is to start looking in an area and look at 100 deals in that area.

That's why I moved form Portland OR to Columbus OH to start REI. 

We did increase rent after they vacated so if you have no tenants from the start you can start out with your desired rates. 

When we were done at the notary and finished the purchase, we were able to obtain the license and start the works (it was a big commercial old furniture shop where we created 14 tourist apartments).