Howdy from Dallas/Fort Worth

[Account Closed]

I'm Dave. Nice to be here. I learned of BP through the podcast, am happily catching up through the years' worth of episodes. I'm in my 30s and am a journalist by day.
The rental and residential home markets in DFW have been on fire as more and more people move here for the new jobs and cheap cost of living. My investment portfolio hasn't really capitalized on that at all, it's been mostly in large cap domestic stocks. I'm happy with the post-subprime meltdown gains but would like to diversify. I'm particularly interested in two investment types. First, buy-and-hold rental properties with solid cash flow to supplement my income. Second, investing in closely held REITs that invest in commercial, office and apartment developments in Texas. I can't seem to find any that are listed on the known stock exchanges. My background is nil, my only experience is in researching my first house that I bought right after the financial crisis. I couldn't resist the $8,000 tax credit. I became very familiar with how foreclosures work in Texas, how REOs work, short sales, and so forth. I checked Homepath and HUD listings regularly.