I am a newbie looking to pop his cherry and invest in his first property.

Interesting to see TN pop up twice.

Last September, it popped up on Zillow as an FSOB, I called the owner, made my offer, and today, that duplex is mine.As we drive home from that one every night, there's an even nicer duplex that I'm looking at now...

If you can find a syndicator or an experienced operator who has a system and a pipeline of off-market, mom-and-pop operated deals, you may find yourself in a much better position.  

Never let them know you are out of state again if you have a local person they can pop-up at the site and determine progress etc.

I thought it over a long time and then my dream property popped up and offer was accepted even though we weren't the highest. 

There is a property that popped up it's cheap it is two buildings on one lot.

Yes, there are a lot of posts about this, but many are pretty old posts and I assume new companies have popped up and old companies have changed.

(Putting those areas in your post can pop up as keyword alerts for other users who may be able to help you out along the way)Looking forward to your success as well!

I've had seen a few success stories, but they don't pop up often.