I've made some not-much-over-asking-price offers on a couple "multiple offers received, highest and best due by ___" properties but never won any. 

So I decided to get off the bench a couple months back and purchased my first property!

But what if market crashes, you lose few renters and because of that couple of your rentals are sitting empty...you lose your job, and have no money to pay mortgage for  those rentals and to pay for your own mortgage?  

Hello, my name is David Adams I'm married and have a house in Boise, Idaho but I work as a contractor for the State Department, and currently working on the Embassy in Kabul Afganistan. 

So if  you find someone who is trustworthy and can make the process simple maybe that's worth a couple of bucks somewhere.

@Robbie McCarthy I have the names of a couple insurance people who might be able to assist you. 

Our primary residence I bought before we were married and its in my name.

Sleeping on a bed with a person you aren't married to  is one thing buying Real estate is another kind of Ballgame. 

Instead ask for a couple of projects that he has done, look at the records to see how much they were bought for and how much they were sold for.

I'm sure there must be a reason you are picking a place thousands of miles from home to invest (not what I would suggest) but - I would travel to the area, spend a couple of days getting to know the place, and attend a REIA meeting to meet some fellow investors before I'd through a bunch of money at it.