House hacking would be ideal.

-What factors/criteria are you using to evaluate properties located out-of-state?

There are multiple factors including preferences, liquidity, budget and time horizon.My article: Choosing the Right Real Estate Market To Invest In: The 4-Step Guide to Success should help you get started. 

I have some factors working against me.

The other factor to consider is what types of homes and how much work you want to do when buying and acquiring mobile homes.

For instance- let's say ideally you'd want to put down 25% and would be very happy with 6% for 5 years with a balloon and a 25 year amortization.

Unlike leads you can order online from a generic website, I can guarantee that the leads I pull are fresh (60 days or less), off market, and I use a ranking system to determine which sellers are most motivated based off of factors such as the executor of the property living in a different state and the amount of siblings the house has been inherited by.

I would ideally apply that strategy to single-family homes to start, then transition to multi-family properties.

Don’t downplay the psychological factor of having the mortgage paid off.

I would not factor in much, if any % for yearly increase.