Overseas newbie looking for advice!

[Dave Frederick]

Hey all! I'm new to the BP site, but have been listening for a while to the podcasts. So, I'm looking for other investors to connect with who have experience investing from overseas and can provide tips/pointers. I'm station in Japan currently, but I want to continue my investing journey. I have two properties stateside, one I think I cannot maintain as a buy and hold. It cash flows, but not truly. I did not account for vacancy, repairs, or capex. I don't think that property can be corrected, but it has some equity in it. My second property (really the first I bought) is a property in California I bought after the last big bubble bust in 2008. I didn't know it at the time, but it should be a great property. Now that the market is a 180 from then, I need to restructure to a cash flow situation with capex, repairs, vacancy. I ran some quick numbers, and there's room for it, however, if there is not, I will likely sell to cash out my equity. My biggest concerns are for tax purposes. Capital gains taxes, and applicability to VA loans, when I did live in it for 5 years, but not recently! I'd like to connect with people who have experience with tax situations from overseas, what kind of CPA should I look for, etc. Whatever my options pan out to be, I want to be prepared for the tax consequences.

I'm also interested in expanding my portfolio. My first property will either be restructured and successfully BRRRR'd or sold and the equity after tax will be my new investment funds. My problem is I don't have a 'core four' as Brandon and David would say. I am looking for tips, advice, and suggestions for developing a core four, from overseas, with no real connections stateside.

Any advice helps, even pointing in a better direction on the site! I've tried searching forums, but all the overseas posts aren't quite what I'm looking for and are really old.

Thanks in advance from a new investor with a 10 year rental :/