I live and work in Rock County, Wisconsin.

I live and work in Rock County, Wisconsin and this market is currently booming.

I am being told that many “wealthy” investors do such a thing.Again, buying a property is not an expense no matter who is on the receiving end.If Company A purchased it for Company B, company A basically just gifted it to Company B and Company A will need to pay gift taxesIf Company A gave money to Company B, Company A either Loaned it or Contributed as Capital/EquityCompany A cannot expense it, because it isn't an expense. 

In a climate where interest is basically zero or negative if you include inflation right now, I want to look around for other ideas, turn over a few rocks, explore some rabbit holes, and see if there are benefits I was missing.

Most likely targeting Round Rock and Hutto/Taylor area.

@Vik J. this article was focused on this specific region within Williamson County, they also did an article pieces on the North East side highlighting Round Rock, another for Georgetown, and also for Cedar Park.  

I wouldn’t bet on it, so you can expect these rock-bottom-rates to keep upward pressure on prices for a long time.Will rates go lower?

I have bought numerous short sales and banks have never rejected my rock bottom price.

The price range that you mention will put you in solid B and even lower A class neighborhoods where you should do just fine.

At the time, same duplexes in Round Rock were selling for about 30k cheaper with about same rents.