Houses being auctioned off are a great starting point that can be low cost, as long as you proceed carefully and keep your eyes open for the right deal that suits your needs.See the original at: https://www.fortunebuilders.com/real-estate-auction-process/

We feel good that we can “keep an eye on it”.  

I don't bat an eye when I see someone open carrying, it's normal. 

MAYBE someday when I start trying to sell them to some wide-eyed virginal wannabe C/D landlord I'll put down some vinyl or laminate plank flooring quick-quick to get that brand-spanking-new look.

If I invest in a town you are already invested in you will have one more person that can go there and be your eyes and second opinion.

But, like you, I'm viewing it with eyes from a different state where the traffic is a nightmare.

If you want to scale up and work on multiple projects at a time, you might decide to use hard money to make that a possibility.Developing a good working relationship with a HML will give you a second set of eyes on potential deals.

I’ve been eyeing this market, too.

They don't normally talk to the general public.Vacant properties are an eyesore, but complaining to the city is meaningless unless you want them to cut the grass.

Keep an eye on the recommendations you get, make sure they're actually in line with the market - in my experiments with various auto-pricing tools, they either priced me way too high or too low.