A fellow I trust suggested looking first in markets where you have friends/family/boots on the ground who can be local guides, and only going into a market cold if you have no other choice.

I prefer brick houses, as they don’t require frequent painting.

Locally, I’m sure you can find an investor friendly firm by asking around the local REIA.

I'm looking to work w/ investor friendly real estate brokers/agents in the Tampa, FL area.   

I'm looking to work w/ investor friendly real estate brokers/agents in the Orlando, FL area.

@Armin Nazarinia Thanks for sharing about friends who have invested locally and then moved.

If you are an investor friendly agent that is familiar with the area, please PM me so we can discuss.

If the tenant is friendly, works with your listing agent for showings and is clean and neat and their place is tastefully decorated then its worth trying to sell when you have a tenant in place.

By contrast I live in a trailer park with my friend who drives me nuts most of the time.

@Brian, and that is a perfectly reasonable position to take, in my situation I'm in NYC, a very tenant friendly state, it's not unknown to be tied up in court for a year trying to evict a bad tenant, it happened to me, took eight months to get him out , situations like that can quickly mess up a positive cash flow, if I had a mortgage on that property I would have been in bad shape.