As long as it's not inconveniencing her in some additional way- lower quality of lifestyle, longer commute to her job, etc. she should be ok with it. 

How do you build and find a network of trust for long distance investing?

Pricing seems inline with other properties in Klahanie and it's a great location to commute from. 

I'm not betting on it, but I also think this area is growing as it's close to a lot of business and tourist investment and Florida just approved $$ to renovate local state parks (walking distance to a tourist attraction).Last, my W2 pay is solid and ~ $8300 a month, but I get stock vestments 2x a year, so in November I'm set to receive ~$40-45K more after taxes which will alleviate any reserves concerns.My biggest questions is what to do if I run into problems with the loan, if they are worried about the reserves post DP and closing costs.

There are millions of trees that are within falling distances of houses, cars, commercial buildings and so on.  

Read The Book on Long-Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene.6.

And I don’t want to do long distance land-lording for my first unit.

Not sure what your commute is like but that may play into it as well.I'm assuming this isn't a life long commitment and you could change it again in a year if you don't like it?

I would suggest reading "Long Distance Real Estate Investing," by David Greene.

For starters, it was halfway between NAS Pensacola and NAS Whiting Field so I would have easy commutes to both and it would be no problem finding longer-term roommates for people working at either place.