Having a long-term rental while living abroad is do-able.Flipping houses while abroad, in my opinion, more difficult, especially if its your first go around with real estate.I would recommend taking a flight and staying in the area for a week and inspect the neighborhoods and make connections.You can reach out to @Elenis Camargo who has a PM company in Jacksonville.Best of luck though.

Quote from @Travis Tamillo: Hello all, Im about to retire from the Navy and am super excited about becoming a Real Estate Agent.

Squatters are a real problem nationally and a study found that they target not only vacant properties but those advertised for rent or sale that offer 'immediate occupancy.' 

Don't conflate the one-off thing with Gamestop with what real investors with real money have on their radar.

@Cole DobbsIn addition, I may be able to help you and connect you with some key real estate investor players in the Houston, Texas market since I am an Investor myself that have done most of these real estate investing strategies and also an investor-broker who has helped over 400 investors like you. 

There are options like:Private Real Estate Funds: These allow you to remain in real estate but delegate all the management responsibilities to professionals.

I have 10 years of experience in retail real estate and a couple of partners who are interested in investing with me.

My real estate agent thinks I'll only get 1.1 million for my home but due to a few factors I think it should be more. 1.

Maybe, but so far the reports are about neighborhoods where people have real money.

Regardless, it shoukd be a lot less expensive than a real staging.