Kiwi 'lost' in Dayton OH

[Paul L]

I've been living in the states for 3 years now, 6 mnths in Dayton. My wife and I are eager to purchase our first investment property this year. Our game plan is to buy and hold for cashflow. The investment landscape here seems radically different to what we're familiar with in NZ, so I think we have a steep learning curve ahead of us. I'd be very interested to hear what people think of investment opportunities in this area. From what I can tell it is a city in decline, with negative population growth and a lot of lost manufacturing jobs. The surrounding towns seem in better shape than Dayton City itself. Being a bit gun shy on Dayton, our current thinking is to look to Columbus since it doesn't appear to be reliant on manufacturing for employment - state capital, massive university etc.
We may encounter a few more hurdles getting started since neither of us are permanent residents (green cards are probably a year away), although we didn't have any problem purchasing our own home. I'm working here on a L-1 visa, so I can't legally get involved in other business ventures. But my wife can on her L-2 visa and our daughter is a US citizen, so maybe my wife and daughter can get us started with an LLC. I expect some discussions with an accountant, mortgage broker, and lawyer are in order.
Anyway I've been reading posts on this site for several months now, and have found it very informative and enjoyable.