The other is that I have a competitive advantage there- one of my good friends from high school lives there and walks 6 miles to/from work every day, so I can get honest opinions about neighborhoods without having to get on a plane (as I see my 91-year old grandfather every week, a plane trip is a risk I'm not currently willing to take).

I honestly wouldn't want to book a trip to the region anytime later than mid July and earlier than late September.  

.- Last but not least, I love the opportunity to having to go and inspect my properties in Mexico and get the cost of the trips off my taxes.

For instance, if the purpose of the trip was to evaluate potential investment properties, then the cost of lodging could potentially be deducted as a business expense.Second, even if the expense is deductible, the IRS (or your local tax authority, if outside the U.S.) may require you to provide a record of the expense.

I'm making a trip to Tampa June 1 &2 .

I fell out of one of these bunks on a pheasant hunting trip. 

To me, if I want to invest in a city like Dallas that will cause me 10 hour round trip to visit, it makes no difference than buying one at a midwest city that take the same amount of time to fly in and out.What I want to learn is how to tell what is a good area in San Antonio for BRRRR.

We often have to initiate the conversation to find out where rent is, and we often have multiple trips to collect partial rent during the first two weeks of the month.

The field trip is valuable too, in order to get an idea of the types of properties his students buy. 

Now, if your considering investing long distance, my suggestion would be to at some point schedule a trip to understand the demographics of the area and how they work.