If I lived in an area hostile to landlords or a place with a voracious appetite for tax dollars I'd certainly consider investing outside my home area (actually I'd probably consider moving), but I think it would be hard owning property that I can't work on, see, or visually inspect easily. 

As long as you have a process, it goes pretty quick.I go through a house and do a quick visual inspection to identify specific issues I want to document.

Sometimes we even stake the corners of the projects so that they can visually see what is going on.

I love to work with my hands and am a very visual person,I also have owned a 4 unit apartment complex since I was 20 (owner occupied 15yr fixed loan) and that has been the highlight of my 20's so far!

@Henri Meli Thanks for the feedback,Re: Street view, it will only give a visual.

At list at closing. do you have a visual diagram of this exercise ?

That should give most potential investors enough visual info to get a feel for the property.Also, equally important to the quality of the photos is what you are taking photos of.

Limited to operating between 6am-7pm.It does say "Where a center is contiguous to a residentially-zoned property, a six-foot visual barrier, not less than 95 percent opaque, shall be provided along the property line, excluding any required front yards." 

view=part&hea...If you want a more visual version, go to the Minnesota Landlords and Tenants Rights and Responsibilities here: https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Brochures/pubLandlordTe... 504B.271 indicates you (landlord) will take possession of the items and must store and care for them for 28 days after notice of abandonment (when they tell you they're gone).

That being said, you can overcome some of the challenges of distance with technology, such as if you receive video (or photos) along with maintenance requests from your out-of-state tenants, allowing you to keep some visual on your property from a distance.If you are comfortable with distance, there is a price-to-rent ratio that may come in handy for you and end some of the analysis paralysis.