Sadly it’s tough to make strong returns with STR in the northern half of the US.I tend to buy in the Southern half of the US for 2 reasons:1) you get much higher year-round occupancy rates in the South & it’s simply tough to earn a good ROI in the North if your place sits vacant for a big chunk of the year2) Culturally, the Southern half of the US seems to be a lot more accepting of STRs regulation-wise.

He will have a bit of culture shock.

Sound as natural as possible.3) Don't commit cultural taboos like referring to owners by their first names (unless given the ok) or calling them on Sundays.

Not to burst your bubble based on the comments from my contemporaries, but if you're trying to qualify for a 4M loan, there a lot of other factors that come into play; not just whether the property will cover the mortgage. 

My first job was a really crappy one outside of real estate, my second one I got very fortunate in having the chance to work as a property manager at 18 (ended up quitting that job because of the company's culture,) my third job was as a subcontractor for a developer who flipped old manufacturing buildings into apartments, and my current position is as an analyst/broker of self storage facilities for a company that's been in the business for 20+ years.

To do this, my wife and I will both be relocating to somewhere in the Midwest for a while, with plans to buy our first property within the next few months.Neither of us have ever been to any of the markets I've been researching (with the exception of Cleveland), so we're taking a 45 day road trip starting next week to tour nine of the metro areas.Those cities are:- Kansas City, MO/KS- Des Moines, IA- Grand Rapids, MI- Cleveland, OH- Columbus, OH- Cincinnati, OH- Indianapolis, IN- Louisville, KY- Nashville, TNSince we don't know which market we'll be investing in yet, my goal for the trip is to learn as much as possible about these markets, pick up some anecdotal stories, and get a feel for the local culture.

You save so much money that spending 500-1000 in another country/states isn’t much relative to the cultural experiences you get out of it.

New distressed flooring throughout, freshly painted interior with contemporary paint colors, new baseboards, ceiling fans, recessed lighting, remodeled master bathroom and additional full guest bathroom.

But my experience was there are certain cultures that would never consider living in a home where a death has occurred.

For years, homelessness loomed over the civic culture of Los Angeles as its most intractable problem, one that defines our city and its government officials.