Alternately, you can simply pay for the service of local market knowledge & boots on the ground.As @Dawn Anastasi mentions, there is a ton of information on the forums, in the blogs & on the podcasts about virtual/out-of-state investing.

MencarowNo Comments Given the Dodd-Frank Act’s ill-advised, uninformed and, frankly, insane assault upon seller mortgages as virtually “predatory lending,” members of Congress —who vote on bills they have never read (as a legislative director in the US Congress for years I can assure you that is true) — and cushy-jobs-for-life-can’t-be-fired-no-matter-what-they-do-or-refuse-to-do bureaucrats (who determine how the laws that members of Congress never read are to be interpreted and enforced) need to understand is that seller mortgages are not loans — they are installment sales.

If you want to find out real quick if the turn key company knows the area well, ask them to give you a virtual online tour on Google Maps and to walk you through different areas and whey they are good or bad.

Will the 20k upgrade enable you to get higher rent(>$900)? 

I will give you a virtual pat on the back for this idea.  

I believe you may be able to export your results to MatLab which will enable you to break out some serious trends with relative ease - but I don't know your MLS so...A wholesaler I know uses listsource to select zip codes but I don't know anything about using that site.

In addition, areas such as the coastal cities, have homeowners that either use their properties 100% as vacation rentals, or rent them for high demand months, enabling them to completely pay their mortgages the rest of the year, or come close to that. 

Virtual Assistant.How I have set up a small company, with Virtual Assistants.Here is exactly how I do it.Why do I like to work with VA’s?

I am trying to find a way to get started in real estate investing because I want to build a business or income on the side to supplement when I retire.I was hoping to network with others who have been able to do this virtually or remotely.  

I've also been looking at the areas where these properties are on areavibes.com, and then I've been virtually driving through the areas on Google street view.