But take that with a grain of salt and consider it against people who have more experience. 

I would take all the doomsday predictions with a grain of salt.

I have seen countless people lose millions of dollars in real estate - sometimes, literally overnight.Since you are likely to take my comments with a large grain of salt, as you are doing your research and doing your due diligence, ask around for (a) specific success stories that foreigners have had with real estate which resulted in handsome profits and (b) all the failures. 

@Gary Parker My daughter lives in Salt lake city, she is 8.

This fix alone would bump the value to in the $230,000 range (again this is from the listing agents so I'm taking it as a grain of salt). 

I am currently shopping for a CPA person/company in the Salt Lake City Metro area (Utah).

I know Boise and Salt Lake are taking advantage of the California migrations and should continue to do well for real estate. 

While a slap on the wrist for a much greater reward is sometimes needed, it comes with a grain of salt for its taboo nature.

My advice, if you read or listen to that stuff, is take it with not a grain of salt but a pound and don't implement anything without your attorney reviewing what may likely be a creative financing mess.

Granted, she's been in real estate less than 5 years and she does it part time so I'm taking her word with a grain of salt.