In today's world, unless you are looking for a job to manage the investment, there is no reason not to look to a state that is more landlord friendly.  

Obviously, you are planning on doing your own property management once you purchase your first rental. 

You need to learn how and when to use all the tools available to you (financing, insurance, management, etc.)

The key is to find a good fleet manager at a dealership in your area.

I own a couple Chicago MF that he did gut-rehabs on and his team still manages them for me.

We will self-manage from a distance.Thanks!

It is certainly more challenging to investing actively when you don't live in the market but if you have an investor friendly agent that has experience and connections to contractors, property management etc then it helps reduce that risk.

Another option you may not have considered is to work with a developer and build a multi-family property in a desirable area, leverage ECO construction benefits available ($5 to $15 per sq. ft.) and cost segregation and bring in a management company to manage the property once it is ready for occupancy.

After a few of those I felt comfortable enough to start investing in deals I sourced and managed. 

Now new HOA management is issuing violations, saying No Commercial Vehicles allowed.