In addition, I would recommend: Listening to the BP Real Estate podcast https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcastListening to the BP money podcast https://www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshowAttend your local REIA meetings to networkStart analyzing deals to get practiceEngage more on the BP forumsAll the best!

Despite what you might have heard about how different lending standards are now after the 2008 disaster-I have come to learn that not much has changed. 

@Shafi NossI totally agree with @Paul ChoiI would meet with two or three different real estate agents during your trip. 

I have a property of my own that has $60k worth of equity.Next will be getting myself into the Olympia area monthly meetings.

I have a long list of potential cities, but am having a difficult time narrowing that list down using any sort of consistent standards.

If you haven't already, I would recommend doing the following: Read Brandon Turner's book on Rental Property Investing https://www.amazon.com/Book-Rental-Property-Investing-Passive-ebook/dp/B018UTI2DOListening to the BP Real Estate podcast https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcastListening to the BP money podcast https://www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshowAttend your local REIA meetings to networkStart analyzing deals to get practiceEngage more on the BP forumsAdd a profile pictureAll the best!

(I should note that I live in Japan so buying a house and living in it is not an option for me.)Sincerely,Cory Ballantyne you're gunna hate me for this, but I wouldn't consider buying in America, from japan, for your first deal, unless you had in the range of $75-$100k. when you invest locally, you can get low down payments and house hack, you can drive to see properties, you can go to investor meetups and pick peoples brains, and you have the luxury, if something goes wrong, of seeing what went wrong and even going in and picking up tools yourself to save on labor if absolutely necessary. from japan, you will need to fly to see any property you hope to buy, probably have trouble meeting up and networking, and everything will have to happen with boots on the ground financed out of your pocket.

It would be ideal to know for sure if the properties will appraise for at least 100K which is a common minimum standard in hard and private money.  

Should I go there to invest because my nest egg will reach further, or should I keep networking until I meet people with the big bucks?

It's all give and take and cost/benefit analysis you need to consider/decide upon.As others have said, go to local REI meetings, meetups, or just try to connect with people here and see what value you can provide these people in exchange for their help.Maybe you can re-design their website for them, or do some bookkeeping, or clean their office, or whatever skill you have that you think they might benefit from.