My 1 year goal is to transfer to a university in my home state of Texas and buy a 3-4 unit, with a FHA loan (potentially using equity from a home I've rented for a few years now), while living in one unit and renting out the rest while I finish school.

Or is there another universal way to generalize the RE cost in an area? 

It's universal, just like employees.. most of the time it's due to poor hiring process.

I have been a real estate investor since 1978 and have never heard of UST as any universal or common terminology. 

i'm a newbie from Italy.I've been listening to the podcasts and looking around in the blog for the last 2 months, so I at last decided to write.i'm currently about to finish university, and starting my own business.i have saved up some money for me to create some kind of passive income, and after screening various possibilities i've decided that i want to invest in RE.my idea was to go into rentals, but my sitaution right now is that my business seems to be close to take off and in that case i would have to start put more time in it and travel around the world, so i wouldn't be able to be present as a landlord (for this i'd have to clarify that in italy we don't have property management companies, the position just doesn't exist, or so it came up in my research).I did some more research and i aimed more to turnkeys in Europe,  since i still want something kinda close that i could go and visit for a weekend if i ever wanted to).i did find a few companies that propose turnkey property but here kicks in my italian distrust :i found deals for 45-70k for service properties (specifically units in hotels an care facilities)the website advertises 10% NET ROI guaranteed (in some for 10 years in some more)it GUARANTIES as well a buy back option from the developer after 6-10-15 years at 110-125% of the purchasing price.now the deal seems legit, i can kind of understand that if p.e. the hotel i'm investing in pays 500/month to me for the rent, then he sells the single room for much more, thus their gain.i run the numbers, and here's what's throwing me off:it really seems too good to be true.i've tried to do some digging but i didn't find any information on any blog about this company, and the company doesn't list any reference for privacy policy (they say they provide some upon request).now after all this,do you have some tips about how to do some kind background check on the company/deal through internet or other means..?

In terms of education/training, I graduated with an MBA from Wharton and a Masters in Engineering from McGill University. 

The Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) is consistently voted one of the best places to live/work/play, thanks in large part to the local job economy and three major universities in each of those cities (NC State, Duke, and UNC, respectively).

I have only completed 1 year in an MBA in International Finance at the University of Chicago, have Series 7,63,66 and have done the CFA program I & II so far.

Thomas University was listed at $225kMy first offer was 210k with seller paid closing costs.

Of course, I am generally speaking of our rules/regs here and you are in a different universe...ooops..i mean country:)