I would recommend you start by getting a thermal scan of the house. 

What we found was is if you find the right area within the zip and remodel to a little higher standard you'll get the fresh out college, with good jobs and 700+ credit scores that want to live near Decatur/Kirkwood/Avondale Estate, but don't want to live in a crappy house. 2 years we may have priced a couple of ours a little lower not realizing the market had changed so rapidly.

Keep scanning the upstate, NY, or Syracuse threads to find BP meetups.

When they hand in an application, do a quick scan of the form to see if they meet your criteria, if they don't, simply tell them that and don't accept their money.

Scanned copies and electronic faxes are the norm these days, and you should be able to send everything electronically to who ever needs it.

You can also look into PayNearMe which allows for tenants to go to a 7/11 or Dollar store, scan a bar code, hand them the cash and the money goes direct into your account.

If you are looking to buy and hold, the areas where young professionals are already living will be pretty expensive and not cash flow as well in comparison to some other areas that are developing more rapidly.

These are absolute gamechangers and will rapidly increase the rate you build your REI knowledge.

This draws a lot of people in to Winston, which helps the local economy and has lead to rapid need for development here recently in the Winston area.

Regulations change for STRs and the market can become saturated.Personally, I like Ann Arbor, Lansing and Grand Rapids, Michigan for STRs and LTRs.You have to know the local restrictions and regulations on STRs in those locations but you are much more likely to be able to buy a property that will cashflow as a long term rental and cashflow much better as a short term rental even using property managers.To your success!