I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years.

I bet Chris!  

BUT, if you build another structure, all bets are off. 

Not all agents are bad, I bet, but everyone in Houston I met I wouldn't trust and actually took the intel they gave me and went the opposite way. 

Columbus will be your best bet if you want the growth.

As mentioned above, syndications may be your best bet for truly passive income, but you are absolutely ripe to make a bad decision on that because you don't have the time and will not be able to property vet the operator.

fresh real-time data is ESSENTIAL if you want you and your investors to stay ahead of the curve and know trends before they are widely spread, which in turn will make your investors happy which will make you look like a safe bet in their eyes, so real time data is IT 

But it will be hard because odds are the people on your list have been called before, but it is worth a shot. 

These supply issues mean that homes in coastal states and other expensive areas are going to appreciate quickly, though as you’ve found, they’ll also be chronically cash flow negative.Also, as Patrick said, I think looking into states like Alabama might be your best bet, especially if you’re trying to invest in new construction homes (which are generally pricier than older housing stock) at 80% LTV.Plus, the state roughly meets your criteria: it’s a landlord-friendly place, property taxes average under 0.40%, and there’s not a lot of snow in Alabama—Birmingham, for example, gets just an inch or two of it per year.

It would be odd to not have the right to still take a look again, but at the end of the day they have the deal under contract so they can decide who they give the deal to.