At least if I rent it, then I'm getting monthly income from all my past efforts; that it was all worthwhile.   

I also mean to say the low returns you would get here are not worthwhile considering the temporary depreciation losses a CA investor would see in the event of economic correction.

I'd like to do that, I think it would be a worth while for most people

You might be able to make this cash-flow down the road with refinancing to lower rates and rents increasing, but that could take quite a while for it to become worthwhile. 

There are a few markets in the Monmouth County area that could be worthwhile depending on your price point. 

You'd have to look into it even more to get a better idea of the market and whether or not it's worthwhile.

Get it to a point where you feel it's fair and your income is worthwhile.

Are these duplexes just too expensive to be worthwhile, or is this about right/fair in Austin right now? 

Probably the best thing to do is identify who you want to use for the closing and give them a callHelpful reading:It’s worthwhile to check out Brandon Turner’s quick guide to making an offer on an off-market property: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/offer-on-off-market-propertyThis is a helpful thread discussing letters of intentthis thread says get a FSBO contract from title company, which is the standard contract with agent stuff stripped out, so that might be a good approach to take

From a tax perspective, you won't have as many advantages as you would as a US citizen, or other foreigners, for that matter, but I've been told that the returns still make the investment worthwhile.