Check them out on Meetup and visit a few whenever you have time.

You can see why when you compare CA distance to AZ vs CA distance to TNWherever you choose to invest, I'd strongly urge you to visit the property before you buy.

This visit is to get a feel for the city and then really get serious after I make a decision.

Go visit some local credit unions in SLC, see what they're offering on HELOCs.

So, after traveling to Ohio to visit family I went and looked at a quad that is up for sale. 

We are considering Boise because we have family there and try to visit every summer. 

Thankfully everything passed on the first visit.

Plus you will still need to have funds to cover the costs of: Appraisal, Broker Fee (if using one), Title Insurance & Property Insurance, + liquidity to start the rehab, and then receive draws from the lender as you complete the project (site visits would be done to confirm the work is being completed as expected before they will fund your draw).

"We can now give customers a cash offer remotely over the phone, without having to visit their house.

There's all sort of other factors too (if you have family in each state or another reason to visit, landlord laws, etc.) but primarily I would focus on the economies of the two states and projections for the future over the next 5-10 years.