You can of course educate yourself, but it has to be done by all three parties to ensure full understanding of your actions.2)  I agree with @Jacob Sampson about RE investing may not be performing as well for you as for your grandfather.

Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

The offer would be sight-unseen so no matter what we have to lowball, but I want to ensure my client is protected from all the legal issues going on if the offer were to be accepted. 

Ah, got it.The way you ensure your offer gets to the seller is to present your proposal/offer in writing.

But I'm going to keep an eye out for the next one and prepare a little better, possibly taking some time off work to ensure I can make it.

I find this very helpful to stay organized and ensure that both me and my tenants have the same documents and everything is time stamped in case there is every disputes.

I run the numbers, assist with tenant selection, execute the lease, responsible for ensuring our PI's are paid back (w/interest), and because I live an hour a away I went to work at the property once a month for the three month renovation period (1 visit I cleaned the cabinets to prep for painting, 1 visit I put new knobs on all the cabinets and hung the towel bar, toilet paper holder and a mirror in the bathroom, 1 visit I mowed the lawn and helped move trash to the curb for bulk pickup.

Do your due diligence to ensure the specific terms of the offer make sense, that the buyer has proof of financing or proof of funds, and that nothing is going to prevent the closing from going through as expected.

You want to ensure you have the complete picture prior to purchasing a new property.Good luck!

This article is a great place to start.Whenever I try find professionals to work with any part of my own investing I ensure they have personal experience in my niche.