Investing out of state will allow you to select the best producing markets now and in the near future.

@Kyle Woodruff, you should also get Brian's book, The Hands-Off Investor, An Insider's Guide to Investing in Passive Real Estate Syndications, which, although aimed at passive investors, has a ton of excellent information for all of us. 

I did a ton of researching last year, and decided wholesaling, while just as tough  as any other business structure in real estate, would be my select niche. 

San Diego is a great place to live, and provides excellent overall investing returns!

EXCELLENT and will quit claim deed as needed. 

I recieve a monthly structured settlement (which I currently use for rent and groceries), have an excellent credit score, several thousand saved as a cash down payment, and $4,000 in student loan debt so far. 

I'm a solo agent in a boutique brokerage and the broker has excellent communication and experience.

They are excellent primers for new investors and serve as an overview of the processes.

There are other calculators available on other platforms as well (some as simple as excel spreadsheets).

I started out keeping all of this information in an Excel spreadsheet on my laptop.