(Using house hacking strategy)I would love to receive feedback regarding this region from more experienced investors.

I also notice that @Gregory Schwartz mentioned Huntsville in particular—I definitely think that it’s a strong market for long-term appreciation.As for your concerns about investing out of state, I think an investment strategy that is as close to passive as possible would be best.A do-it-yourself approach—where you acquire a property, place a tenant, interview a bunch of property managers, and handle maintenance yourself—is going to be pretty tough to do remotely.

House hacking a quadplex in Orange County is ambitious but doable with patience and the right strategy.

I think it does a good job of introducing different strategies and lingo of investing in a  digestible way and allows someone to find what they may find interesting and then learn more about that.

Include an exit strategy, tax planning, and insurance to protect both parties.

I suspect this lender was just one of the hundreds of crooks out there doing teh advance feescam.If your interested watch the American Greed episode on Remington financial they do a deep dive into these companies..

Hey, sounds like a solid strategy.

Getting back to the original post, what would be a strategy you'd explore given his circumstances?  

I learned this strategy from one of my clients.

As a new real estate investor, I have been exploring each strategy real estate has to offer.