Purchasing first property for rental income

[Dean J.]

Hello, 

I've been looking into purchasing a property in the USA, and am looking for some guidance. 

I feel like my situation is somewhat unique, but that said, I'm still learning about this industry so perhaps it's not an uncommon scenario.

Basically I'm Australian and my wife is from Texas. We're currently living and working in Sydney but looking to purchase an investment property in her hometown, which is about an hour an a half out of Dallas.

The reason we're looking to get into the market in her home town is threefold -

1. It's so much more affordable than in Sydney (3 to 4 times cheaper)
2. The gross rental income seems to be so much higher in relation to the purchase price of the property
3. We know the area well and have a network of people on the ground who can keep an eye on things.

We have already sussed out an Property Manager with plenty of experience and whom we trust, and can take care of the whole lot from finding tenants, running repairs and handling accounts.

My current line of thought was to buy a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house for between $75,000 - $130,000. Through my research and discussions with the Property Manager as well as other people in the area we know that have investment properties, a house such as this in the right part of town should generate $800 - $1,200p/m.

So I really have two questions. Firstly, am I on the right track? Capital gains are not really my focus. What I want to do is create a revenue stream for when we eventually move back to the USA, also perhaps putting us in a position to potentially purchase a second investment property down the track. (Side note, we have our own housing situation over there already sorted, so wont have a rent or mortgage of our own.)

As we current earn much more money in Sydney than we could in Texas, we want to take advantage of our situation. We'd be looking to buy in cash, or as much in cash as possible.

Secondly, could you please point me to any recommended reading on BiggerPockets that you feel would be beneficial to me. I've been having a look around, but as there is such a huge wealth of knowledge here, it takes a long time to sift through the relevant content.

I'm not so much looking for advice on how to buy from Australia (already have been researching this extensively, BiggerPockets was actually a resource recommended to me through that process), I'm looking for advice on whether the basic strategy I've outlined is a sound one, as well as potential risk factors or tips of things to keep in mind.

Many thanks in advance!

Dean