New Recruit on BP - Day 1

[Biju Oommen]

G'day Folks,

Stumbled upon this site while looking for property investment forums in US. Currently I am brand new and will end up asking silly and idiotic questions. Please be patient with me and sincere apologies well in advance. 

My Strategy: I am looking at steady cash flow and capital growth.

US market is huge. At the moment i only am aware of Texas as a market because my cousin is moving there in June and is a frequent traveller to US.   Ofcourse I am aware of other states too but using Texas as a starting poin 

1. Is Texas a good market to look at and are there specific suburbs i should consider.
2. What is the kind of property that would be easy to be rented out. 3 Bedder or 5 bedder.
3. What do potential tenants look at while looking for properties? Their general mind set? Schools, Safety, Big house with backyard, Swimming pool, etc
4. Is there any site which gives us an overview of suburb profile, vacany rate, rental returns, etc
5. Do tenants look for long term lease or short term lease?

6. What is an average rental yield?

More questions to come later. 

Cheers Bie