I have friends who bought in Texas, Chicago, Minnesota and Tennessee so I've been watching those markets. 

Once you find a pitbull friendly policy you will find it excludes animal liability, thereby defeating the purpose of pitbull friendly insurance.

Most of my landlords either don't accept pets at all or are super pet-friendly so pet rent has never been something we have charged.

This alone really turned me off, we stay in hotels now and I have gotten similar feed back from other friends and family members.

:) Would love to make some connections/friends here! 

You have to work with a team that is investor-friendly and has experience working with out-of-country investors like yourself.

First, Texas is one of the most landlord friendly states in terms of laws.

In my market, which is a fairly economical place to build, I am friends with full time builders that are in their properties about $150k/door for construction level finishes.  

This brings me to now, I've taken this approach and have used my own money in lending, but am also bringing in friends and family to take part in these transactions so they can earn way better returns than with CD's.

Just google the following: - special assessment - zombie condos - Florida condos (look for recent news)Since you are not living near the properties anyways, why not look in a landlord friendly state where the purchase prices are lower?