First I do find value in your expertise.  

The Simplified REI brand (you can find it on facebook or BP) are some really good meetups.

One thing I suggest doing as you do your research as well is to find a property on AirBnB that you like. 

Finding another end lender that can underwrite based off actuals would add a lot of liquidity to the space. 

Find out what rate rents are increasing and expenses are increasing in your area and use that in your underwriting, then work out each year of ownership. 5% rate in 5 years seems ambitious.

My friend also owned a rental property in the same community so I figured it would do well.How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I find condos/townhomes to be easier to manage out of state because the HOA handles a lot of the maintenance, just be aware of condo fees and find a place that is reasonable like $300-400/mo or less if you are lucky.

If foreclosure is what you want to invest in get a head of the game and focus on a target area and know if that HOA is a pain to work with, you might just find someone who wants to sell quickly to get aways from the HOA.

I'm going to reiterate what's already been mentioned above, but I'm going to actually give you examples of why it's relevant to you to find a U.S. tax professional.1 - You're going to need to file U.S. taxes once you have property down here, there's federal filings, state filings, and sometimes local filings too2 - Tons of tax treaties between the U.S. and Canada that are easy to miss and can cost you a lot of money (important one with rentals - effectively connected income - if the professional you talk to doesn't know what this is, run away)3 - The amount of days you spend in the U.S. needs to be tracked and if you go over a threshold, all of your worldwide income could be taxable by the U.S.4 - Selling real property means up to 15% of your sales proceeds might not be available to you for years (FIRPTA)5 - Lots of nuance at the state and local levels, which both want to take as much money from you as possibleMain takeaway here is that you should find a U.S. based tax person.

Call around and talk to a few people I'm pretty sure you will find someone who will make the time for you who can tell you pretty much on the phone if you could qualify and ballpark for how much.