I bet if you look at this, you will see you are beating the stock market.

Your best bet is to ask for referrals from professionals in the space: realtors, other investors, this forum, FB groups, etc.

Your best/safest bet would be a regular lease combined with an option to purchase.

The country's continuous population growth, coupled with its high demand for urban housing, positions its real estate market for steady, long-term price increases.Over the past decade, cities like Berlin and Munich have seen remarkable growth in property values, with an increasing number of investors betting on the continued upward trend.

They claim to charge in the "high 4 figures" - one web source says it's $4800 - to join their group and get access to their network and resources.  

They removed all their content from the web and I got an email from my coach saying she no longer worked for the company.

I bet they would jump on it to save the money- or simply help them with social media marketing etc.

Best bet though is a local community business bank.. 

It would likely be comparable to what you pay in the NE.Just google "Lexington County tax estimator" or whatever county you're interested in and you'll usually find a web tool from the County you can use to estimate the tax bill based on the previous year's assessments.There is also a law called the ATI tax exemption that can potentially lower than 6% rate by 25%.

I'd be willing to bet buying an index fund would have a better return without any of the headaches.