Talk to local money folks, property sellers, and those who look after properties for tips.

@Annwar ZahriehIf you are looking at investing locally (even if it's 1.5 hrs away) try and carve out some time to go to meet-ups and meet other local investors in the Philly area and network with them and vendors. 

Look for a community of active owners who are determined to curate a great place to live.  

All this to say, this service is free until they realize you aren't using their applications.Also, when I went in to check that it had been terminated, the prompt said I was blocked for "suspicious activity"!

Its really a pretty cool thing for CA RE Brokers to be able to do this activity..

.- Network with Local Professionals: Connecting with agents, lenders, wholesalers, and fellow investors in Alabama is a crucial step in finding your first deal.

A great bookkeeping or rehab team will be able to advise you a bit on this, but your active involvement in managing and reviewing those team is how you'll get the best results. 

Go to local Real Estate meetups and learn from people there

Alana, I am an appraiser but no longer active. 

Talk to local banks to see what they could offer you if you were to buy an investment property.