I don’t have a ton of data either but I feel comfortable saying that the majority of my guests in the last 10 months haven’t even been military.  

See if the store is comfortable with goods outside on display for sale (to be brought into the store to pay for).Try to stay long enough to get a good feel for the customer base--because they will probably be reflective of your own if you buy there.Are you comfortable sitting in the parking lot at night, unarmed, or do you wish Dirty Harry was sitting next you for protection?

Mainly it depends on the numbers and your level of comfort and experience in dealing with these older homes.

My bank used to require 25%, but as we’ve worked together and they’ve become more comfortable with me, it’s 20%.

Lots of great answers for you here.If the loan is already being serviced at a place where you're comfortable having it serviced, I would stick with them.

I am thinking of converting it now to CG and doing a built to Suit after maximizing plan with an architect given setbacks, etc. 

If I want to scale my portfolio, traditional 20% down mortgages aren't going to be possible because of the property value here, so wanted to see what other popular methods are possible.2) How can a rookie investor get comfortable with buying out-of-state? 

But I would argue buying with a lower down payment to try to get ahead of inflation and hoping revenues stay at 2021 levels or continue to rise isn’t sound investing.Now if you run numbers based on 2019 revenue projections and can still comfortably cash flow with a lower down payment.

If you plan to OMI and maximize return, you may still not get much cash flow, if any, given the asking price.  

And look for it to cashflow.And they say don't use your own money so that you can maximize your cash on cash return and have money left over for any extra renovations or expenses that you did not expect.