With local home and land prices so expensive, I'd like to explore building a Tri or FourPlex on the back half of the lot. 

I'll usually go there first to get a baseline and then further refine that with local listings, etc.. 

I recommend spending a couple nights in the unit so you have the perspective of a guest to notice anything you are missing or need and develop a check list for your cleaners and/or property manager.Your agent should be advising you on all of this and more and have local contacts for you. 

To your question Why in the area, with no experience in it I thought starting local would make sense.

Annual increases in keeping with HUD's fair market rents build in a stable increase in revenue.Regular inspections from the local agency provides us with an excuse to get into the units to check for maintenance issues that often go unreported and cause more damage.We love the model.

We went around and spoke with about 5 local builders and visited their sites, did walk throughs, etc...

You might want to just start with hiring a good local PM and have them take over management from here.

HI my name is Filipe Lema , I am living in Westbrook, Maine. i am a new investor and looking to be connected with local investor.

Outside of that, you can easily be duped by Google or local property managers.

If you're really interested in investing here I'd explore the city and network with local players.