I have seen what happens if you skip this step, so I would very much encourage you to make the time to visit any city you want to invest in @Brandon Stokes, you'll be glad you did! 

Are there markets in the US that you used to live in / know well / have a network in / visit often / visit kid(s) or family in? 

Living in California and having a vacation home in Tahoe, I know first hand a lot of Bay area people visit Tahoe.

I invest in Jacksonville Beach because I liked visiting there, saw a lot of improvements coming to the area long term, and saw how hot the real estate market was in places like Tampa, but that doesn't mean it can't work there!

I would be happy to visit with you.  40 years experience.Scott Sklare

We have people from Mexico who come visit all the time, people that come for work for agriculture and oil and not to mention winter texans that rent for several months a time.

One of them drew a "map" of all the promising areas (in his opinion) of Denver, and then walked through my first property when I had it under contract, assuring me that it was a great buy and that no, I did not need to immediately replace the roof, despite the inspector's warning. 

Single mom budgets have to stretch.Growing up, these were the types of homes that I had grown accustomed to and every time I visited my grandparents, I was simply amazed how the box on the wall could light the heater and why they didn't need a stick to keep the windows open.

I’ve read that when investing out of state, you should invest where you’d like to visit.

We ONLY sign contracts when the number allows us to do what we need to do to the house.So OP...If you are having views AND visits, and no one wants it.. it means you are over representing the house.