Making them compete for your business will drive the closing costs and interest rate down.

You can't drive an electric car across country.

I took a visit to Phoenix not to long ago and did drive through Apache, it seemed like it wasn't a very popular area but I could be missing something.

the area is a few hours drive from family and we take road trips into the mountains a couple of times per year.

Other than your typical MLS listings, I would say networking and "driving for dollars" would be two great options. 

I am guessing the toilet/shower are not high efficiency, or maybe there's a leak, well that may be a value add I am more interested in offsetting the remaining cost to tenantsSome more background...Small town of about 20K people, ~25 min drive away from a large city.

Did you actually find it listed or just drive around and contact the owner from property records? 

I would love to come but don't know if I'll make it as Minot is 1 1/2 hours away for me (and I don't like driving in the dark).

There isn’t enough housing available, which, of course, drives up prices.

You might find something listed for less but competitive buyers drive the price up.