I've looked at las vegas (has come down in price alot making the yields juicy, good tax rate, favorable landlord laws) and dallas for probably similar reasons as the texan cities you've looked at.The major problem for me so far has been trying to find a bank / finance company / person to provide a worthwhile LVR (or LTV as they call it).

I live in a single family guard gated community in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas comes to mind.

I used to bank a lot with World S&L as they had a reputation of being careful - they survived the S&L crash period.

Here's my situation - I don't have much money, my credit is poor to fair depending on which credit bureau is pulled and I live in Las Vegas.

Under these circumstances there is a lot of risk and managing that risk is extremely important.The truly wealthy didn't get rich betting in Las Vegas.

In Las Vegas the only way to flip the house is to buy it at the Trustee sale.

Las Vegas market right now is about 48% of the market but only make 41% of last week new escrows where REOs make up 21% of the market and account for 44% of last weeks new escrows

‎16394 Homes on the market
48% are shortsales
20% are REO/Foreclosures
32% Other(presumed regular sales)

1171 Went into escrow last week
41% shortsales
41% REO/Foreclosures
18% Other

By these numbers we have a 14 ...

This is in California, but I'm sure the same situation existed in other areas of the US, especially Florida, Las Vegas, and Arizona.I've even heard from another investor who started in the booming days and, not knowing better, bought a beat-up house at market value, put a lot into its rehab, and still made profit on it.