Getting into out of state investing

[David B.]

Hello BP community !

This is my first post so apologies if I am asking questions that have been asked or posting in the wrong spot :/

I am 31 years old and looking to get in the market. I have some money saved up and work a full time job. I live in LA and the market is just too hard to enter here with the high prices and the insane amount of competition. All roads seem to lead me to out of state (Turnkey) investments. The whole idea of this makes me very nervous. You have to put a lot of faith in a company to buy a house unseen and then trust that it will be managed correctly. 

I understand that doing this will cut my profit margins significantly but it will also allow me the freedom to keep working and enter a market that would otherwise be very challenging. Any thoughts ? 

Does anyone have any Turnkey companies that they trust and recommend ? Any specific reading or resources I should be looking at before jumping in ?

I did notice a lot of posts from Ali Boone - http://www.biggerpockets.com/users/hipsterali & Chris Clothier http://www.biggerpockets.com/users/memphisinvest . Has anyone had experience working with them ? 

Thanks !

David