It's been a while since I've been there and it's really a variety of types of communities.

Perhaps one with strong real estate knowledge, but also one who can advise my wife and I on a variety of other topics, including but not limited to her 401k, stock investments, college funds/trust funds for our 5 children, etc?

@Ryan L. appreciation and cash flow tend to exist on opposite ends of a spectrum and your investment strategy should move along a sliding scale between the two based on a variety of factors.

This will help you streamline  the process to help you accept rental applications, screen tenants, and market syndication which will post your listing to a variety of sites and therefore helping you get tenants to fill your property!

For a variety of reasons, I was considering purchasing a small, mixed-use (residential over retail) property out of state.

(Unable to invest in residing country for a variety of reasons).I'm looking into reallocating and diversifying into real estate.

Employment status, amount of funds, geography, age, investment strategy, and a variety of other factors will inform your decision.A checkbook plan in either the IRA or 401(k) framework will generally provide advantages over the services of a 3rd party custodian.

You will find syndicators specializing in a wide variety of asset classes, each with a strategy that may or may not be a fit for your personal investment goals. 

I learned about title companies minimizing their risk by not providing a policy due to a variety of factors that make them feel uncomfortable.

Learn from a variety of sources.