Buying out of state forces you to learn all of the skills that you will need to scale, no matter where you are based e.g. delegation, hiring and managing a team, etc.In terms of selecting a market the most critical element is whether or not it cashflow.

I would think this would "force appreciation" and help the resale value in the future.

with no further impact to your credit score#2 - your credit score WILL RECOVER with healthy credit habits. 

Does your age impact this decision?

And there's no federal mechanism pressuring states to do something specific, like how if a state's drinking age is below 21 then that state will lose federal highway dollars (fun fact: there is ALSO no federal minimum drinking age applicable outside of federally controlled land, just some highway money that forced all the states to "voluntarily" set it at 21 on an individual basis, I believe Texas was the last holdout, possibly due to oil money). 

Trying to buy 10 rentals over the next 10 years as my time in the work force slows down (engineer in IT and the kids work cheaper and surpass you at some point).

The company has purchased off-market properties where no brokers or agents have been involved in the buying or selling side, so why would it now be forced to involve an agent?

The idea in a BRRRR is to force sizeable appreciation through that rehab portion of that system.

Lowest money option is to buy a multi family and live in one unit and rent out the other units.Other options if you have more money are the purchase + rehab option, force appreciation and refi out to get your money back out, and then repeat.

That said, it is helpful to consider market cycles and at present we are a long way into a growth cycle.From an investment success perspective here's what you can do to protect yourself in the event there is a downturnFocus on the right asset – we like the multifamily asset class because multifamily real estate is popular during times of uncertainty because during these times, people prefer renting and because it is valued intrinsically it is less prone to large swings in sentiment which can impact the value of single-family homes.Diversify your Portfolio – real estate has low correlation to stocks and bonds and this makes it a hedge against the stock market.