Great job of doing this will you are active duty.I have all my rentals within driving distance and I can easily self manage.

Shouldn't be driving and on the phone either recording stuff. 

I’m moving there next month and plan to drive the areas below if you have any guidance on where to focus first.

They have a pulse on the market, know which questions to ask, do not cost you anything and can drive a deal for you.

I would like to invest locally if possible and would even consider buying within a a few hour drive.  

@Brooks Johnson I was recently in a Realtor ethics course where the instructor went off on a tangent for five minutes about how the board considers it an ethics violation to drive a dirty or messy car.

I asked a lot of seasoned investors and the general sentiment was a good wholesale deal is legit and can save you time and money driving for dollars, sending out fliers, etc. etc. 

I have also been driving for dollars in my community and intend to reach out to the owners.

A few months ago I laughed when bidding was up to $40,000-ish for a property where the house burned down ... google maps still showed the house but these bidders didn’t bother to even drive by the property in person; the lot wasn’t worth $40k.

While Seattle is expensive, Spokane and even Tacoma and Olympia are much more affordable, I'd probably look for something within driving distance first.