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.

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

Focus on undervalued neighborhoods with potential for appreciation and partner with an investor-friendly realtor who knows the area.

This is public info and usually it will change based on seller being there a long time or something like an elderly tax rate.What are insurance costs like (we've got a lot of local variability around fire insurance for ex.)?

It will help you analyze deals quickly but you will likely need to adjust some of the figures such as rent, % towards vacancy/cap ex/maintenance.  

In my almost 20 years of doing Subject 2's and working with other investors in almost every State in the US, in the very few instances the Due on Sale is called it is because if the inexperience of the Investor in not knowing how the transaction is to be done, (not closing with a Title Company or Attorney, not doing the Insurance correctly)Most of all, (not communicating with the seller) Bank calls the Seller to offer them Life Insurance or some other service, and the seller tells them, "I don't own that house any longer, some guy took that house from me and put some renter in it"If you dig into any investor that tells you they had a property or a friend of their brother in laws Collage roommate that had the Due on Sale clause called, you will most likely find that the investor screwed up somewhere.This is why Education and knowledge is needed on any Real Estate transaction.I get calls almost everyday from someone who screwed up on a Subject 2 and is asking to be bailed out, many times they do not want to pay for help, and things just get worse.If you know how to make the Bank Comfortable with the transaction, all is good.Last year I had a couple of hedge fund managers call me asking how they can offer their under preforming loans to Investors to by Subject 2, wow what a great deal, I could call Pace and he would have buyers the same day for a 1,000 homes, but the legal aspect of this would hold the Hedge fund liable so we could not do a deal.

I’ve seen something similar with a friend in San Diego, who bought what he thought was a legal duplex.

They will also dictate the terms of the loan, how it's filed, qualifications, etc.However, if you mean PML as in your friends/family that have NO experience in real estate and just have money sitting around...then I would certainly to counsel you to lean on some type of mentor or other experienced investor in Houston on what to do. 

I'd love to learn more about your focus as an investor-friendly agent.

Is your previous lender a family member or a close friend?