I receive emails from them frequently, but I have not had time to really go back and try it again. 

An ATX friendly STR realtor that I reccomend is CRIBS Consulting.

I owner occupy the home, renting a room to a friend at $650/mo, and the lower unit rents for $1850/mo - total rental income of $2500/mo.

You may be able to bypass some of those hurtles based on your country of origin/where you have friends and family but in most cases investing in the U.S. will be way easier and will yield a better ROI. 

They sold two appreciated duplexes in Dallas and we turned them into 8 units in Mesa, AZ with higher cash-flow, and much closer proximity to Southern California.I'll add to your Phoenix "pros" list:1) Landlord friendly rental rules2) Easy evictions in < 30 days3) Rents are rising faster (on a % basis) than many other metro areas4) Low property taxes (and the property taxes don't sky rocket after a purchase as they do in CA)5) Very low vacancy and extremely high tenant demand.

To me, PML is a friend of a friend or an Uncle or a co-worker's father. 

Dennis, I wish I was able to have grown up close with friends like yourself or even had that nowadays...WOW!

I’ve mentioned it to people at work and some friends who are moving to the city, but my place is either too far for them, or they prefer their own space.

I have a few e-mail addresses of new Aussie friends and gave the BP site to many.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...12 Frequently Asked Questions (And Answers) About DSCR Loanshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/...8 More Commonly Asked Questions and Answers to DSCR Loanshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/eight-questions-and-answe...What Documents Do You Need for a DSCR Loan?