Usually the numbers don't work to build in these neighborhoods, unless government tax credits, etc.Do you see the problem with your two statements:"The turnover costs could/will be high"and"How much more damage could they do?"

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.

Britt,My firm has evaluated some smaller properties (under $500k) in the past for cost segregation, and it generally does not cost justify moving forward, since the benefits are small, and typically the tax liability on the income is minimal if any.

Overall, the tax benefits and appreciation alone keep me interested in staying with it more than the cash flow itself. 

@Brice Alef-Torrisi putting each property in its own LLC is usually overkill.Getting a bank account for each LLC is typically something you need to do to avoid "piercing of the LLC corporate veil" (actually depends on tax selection you made for LLC), but is also overkill.You haven't indicated how you are holding the deed for the latest property.If in your name or same LLC, you don't need a separate bank account.If in separate LLC, you can create a Master LLC, have each property LLC hire the Master LLC to manage their affairs, and just get a bank account for Master LLC.This is an opinion, not advice, so lookup CPA Frank Alcini in Troy for expert advice.

If not, what are property tax sales? 

What do you file for this "income overseas," do you file SChedule C self employed on your personal 1040 tax returns ?

If the purchase is done in cash, as you mentioned, they’d have more flexibility, but they’ll still want to carefully consider the tax and legal implications of the subsequent sales.I hope this helps, and good luck with your client’s deal!

The revenue and expense categories line up with your Schedule E which makes it a breeze to prepare for filing your taxes and I like the reporting features, too.

For several reasons (property taxes, politics), I would prefer to begin real estate investing somewhere other than locally.