Brazil is about to be in the "blood in the streets" phase.

I'm in the phase that @Joseph Norman recommends- finding a stable neighborhood.

If you look at the prior two cycles, you can see each of these indicators reach a peak during the middle of the cycle, then decelerate (grow at a decreasing rate) as the expansionary phase of the economic cycle comes to an end.

I am looking to do what is called lease options, wholesaling real estate locally after which doing phasing later into virtual wholesaling.  

SA is a much, much smaller area than DFW, but it has exponentially more HUD listings, and many of those listings make it to the investor phase.  

I am still in the initial phases of research on areas etc.. but would like some opinions.

Have you done a Phase 1 survey ? 

We have built up equity in the current house but it is not paid out yet.We were looking to move to a bigger house, but I am going through the dilemma phase right now considering new house pricing is around 135 per sft in this area.Renting out the current house is not going to be an issue as I am confident about the cash flow.Having said that, I have to look into what you suggested.

Finding a great property mgt team will be key for you if you do move forward after a careful due diligence phase.  

We have started an LLC, and our putting together a great team (Contractors, Attorney, Local RE Agents and an accountant) We are in the demo phase and the place is down to the studs.