I've fallen hard for some of the second- and third-tier Texas cities, like Lubbock and Amarillo and Waco, where there is plenty of solid growth and yet prices are still under control.We should compare notes: I'm living in New Mexico these days, so the Texas border is only 20 minutes away!

There are a surprising amount of us out there, and I'm sure you'll find the information you're looking for.Despite @Nathan Cross playing 20-questions with you, he is spot on. 

@Luchia ParkInvesting across borders is one of the most expensive moves a investor can make. 

We are about 1.5 hours from the border.

We were just about to cross the finish line with this purchase and I'm afraid this tax issue, if accurate, could cause the seller to walk away. 

This rule is applied to each property separately unless you make an election to pull all properties together for the purposes of these rules Thus if you have a full time day job as a software engineer working 2080 hours, you would need 2081 hours in your real estate work - it would take some very good contemporaneous time logs for the IRS to agree with you on being a qualified real estate professional.The 500 hours you allude to is part of the material participation hurdle you also must cross.

There's not much that can be done about the landlord - tenant laws, and that's why if someone tells me they are interested in Springfield, I recommend they check out towns across the border first.

Supply/Demand = (Total Inventory / Accepted Offers)Median S/D since 2001 = 107.52         Median S/D since 2015 = 62.27Average S/D since 2001 = 139.57        Average S/D since 2015 = 70.17When S/D is on the rise, crossing the Median level appears to be a good barometer that a shift has started.

Just get on the horn and talk to like 5 people and I bet you'll see some interesting deals cross your desk.

@Theresa Harris thanks for your input, the whole moving out and damage potential didn’t even cross my mind.