Texas is very tough for a CA investor.. sky high property tax's  soil and foundation issues bad hail storms.. and your income taxed in CA.. so for me its a value add sell market.. make money but do not hold in texas.. but even that only the locals do very well at it.. its a tough place. you need the non income tax to balance the property tax's and other issues.

I tried everything Home Depot had as well as the natural stuff found at pet stores and on line.  

Not sure if you can still do this or not, but several years ago I purchased a couple properties that needed repairs (Roof/Foundation/Carpet/Paint/Appliances).

I think that is why you see so many out of state investors fail.In-state investors learn to vet the ceiling, foundation, windows, floors, kitchen, bathroom, etc.

In addition, I recommend the "Hensel & Gretel" approach while on active duty to build a foundation.

@Champ Leong My inspectors have referred me to experts in other fields for things outside their scope of expertise such as septic, pool, some foundation issues, some engineering issues.

We hire out some HVAC and septic tank stuff but other than that we do it all from foundations to roofs and everything in between.

Buying a house in Tennessee where brother in law committed suicide in the bedroom so the family buried him by the foundation between the HVAC unit and the Porch.

If it was permanently attached to a foundation it actually would have been easier.

So I have a good foundation in finding and analyzing deals especially 2 and 4 family duplexes.