If you manage/landlord your own property, you need skills in landlording.

I'm currently interested in East Bay (Alameda & Contra Costa) as well as Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Merced, Solano and Sacramento counties.As an absolute beginner (this is my very first post) and currently working a full-time job (unrelated to RE), my main objective is to learn different REI skills hands-on.What I bring to the table:1) Funds - possibly for 10% to 25% of down payment (widely depending on deal/rehab costs, of course)2) Hustle - evenings and weekends could be 100% dedicated to REI (finding/analyzing deals, meetups, cold calling, drafting/reviewing, whatever I can help with)I would love to learn at least one of these skills:1) Finding off-market deals2) Estimating rehab costs3) Managing contractors4) Managing tenants5) Negotiating dealsI'm hoping someday I'd be able to add value beyond funds and be part of a great REI team :)If you're interested in connecting, please let me know.Best,JC

Living for a year or more in your first investment property will help you acquire the skills you'll need later in life: managing real estate properties, managing contractors, finding tenants, etc.

Investing out of area is no rocket science but it does require set of skills and systems to follow. 

It's not a very high-skill business on the individual employee level.

Then you will need to incorporate another set of interpersonal skills into this transaction process to make it go through.

I believe my job has given me the skills to tackle on this career path. 

I have many skills to bring.

Often it is a matter of finding properties that match your advantages, if you are skilled and can do some work yourself, if you know rents in the area (or have a real estate agent that also manages properties in many different areas), everyone brings something to the table.

I wouldn't necessarily say it's any more littered than than any form of passive syndication where OPM is used by someone who may or may not be actually skilled enough to produce.