I would get involved with state or local apartment associations.

Check out some local meetups in your area to connect with more investors.  

Its great that you are looking to stay and invest locally.

I am hosting a lunch&learn Zoom call on Wednesday about rent increases, more info on RPAWI. org - a local non profit REIA.

Separately — and this is a more minor gripe — it was complicating my tax situation to pay state and local income taxes in a place I didn't live anymore.I pitched to my parents that I would sell the place and roll it over into a comparable property closer to where I live.

Any locals with some inside information on how true this is? 

Other local counties have similar text.

Check out some local meetup groups in the area.OCREIN - Unlock Your Real Estate Success: Stand Up and Connect!

I'm sure that is true, because most mortgage companies aren't going to go searching for issues when there aren't problems - but in the truest sense of the word this is loan fraud and I'm just not up for it in my portfolio.I did hear from a friend of a friend type that she was able to close a subto with a small local bank somewhere in Georgia (property was also located there) because of a long standing relationship with the bank. 

Be creative in finding tenants by partnering with local, state, or even national businesses.