After all of the podcasts and reading, I'm very eager to start my Real Estate Investing career with a House Hack in the Denver area, within 30-45 minutes of DTC so my commute isn't so bad. 

The seller is a long distance owner and has not raised rents, charged a CAM or any rental fees for the dirt lot. 

@Ben Pepin I talked to David Pere a couple years back to get the courage to invest long distance.

You could also learn about investing long-distance (Check out David Greene's book) if you're concerned about the future of your local market.

How do you go about finding the right person(s) to support your long distance investments?

I'm ready to begin investing and would like to connect with people in the Cincinnati area, as well as others who have interest in investing in long-distance properties.

I am mainly looking in this area, as it is very close to my employer, and I am looking for a commute that wouldn't kill me.

My goal was to take my commissions as a real estate agent and to invest in my first fix-n-flip or to buy my first property to reside in (house hacking) but the time has come to develop a new strategy.Although I found a cheaper alternative to purchase in Long Beach, CA (250 sq ft Studio; walking distance to downtown Long Beach; 3 blocks from Pacific Ocean: $150k list price; $80 HOA; Tenant in place renting $1,200 a month), I did not qualify for conventional financing.

Largely depends on how big of a house you want, amenities, distance to downtown, etc.

Is there any advice or pitfalls to look out for when making a long distance purchase?