I’d recommend keeping an eye on neighborhoods near universities or hospitals rental demand stays solid there year-round.

I've yet to meet a guru with a great background, so whenever I hear "just last year I was flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant, but I found the secret to making money in real estate," I roll my eyes. 

Three of my rooms are rented to medical students.

That gives you the most eyes on the ground and keeps your projects on track from start to finish.

So besides expired listings, the numbers are very in line with what we saw last offseason.Pendings, which tracks buyer activity, was the stat I was keeping a close eye on the last couple months since rates have dropped, but it really hasn't developed into a trend.

It really helps have 50 sets of eyes on each of these investments, for analyzing risk.

So a lot of the home runs are off the table before your eyes are on it.

The biggest key to making out-of-state investing work is leveraging local expertise—an investor-friendly agent who also owns rentals and works closely with property managers and contractors so you have real eyes on the ground guiding you through neighborhoods, numbers, and long-term performance.

Keep your eyes open, define your goals for the investment you want to make and start looking at opportunities.

I've seen some crazy designs, like floral wallpaper with neon signs that okay, may not be my style, but they are eye-catching.