Kevin Darrell I understand you need to pick one market to get your start in.

.) , so let's go with the second option (my budget is a bit higher but not that much), I expect a net cash flow around 10% (after the 50% rule) and I am more of a buy-and-hold person which I believe makes more sense when investing from abroad... unless the market picks up and I'll maybe sell it in 5-10 years to re-invest....1031 I have heard the term but I am not familiar with it...

If you are looking to START "investing" via wholesale I would pick a less saturated area.  

I do have a property manager picked out but do you have any referrals for contractor and/or property manager?

Pick an area you want to own 4 properties in and start dropping off postcards that say "I buy houses" then put signs on the poles at intersections that say the same.then get prepaid to act, how fast can you close.  

Anything that is automated tends to lag behind reality.Bottom line, learn your market, and learn how to evaluate comps yourself, then you have no one else to blame if you under or over price a property.One final note - you don't actually have to buy properties (or even make offers) in your market to evaluate and monitor their list price, days on market, and sale price - pick several representative properties in your area to monitor and evaluate as test cases so you can learn by doing, but without risking any money or wasting anyone's time.

The premise of the blog post is that you can randomly pick a city, analyze its financials, identify strengths and weaknesses, and then decide if you should take a deeper dive and start identifying ripe neighborhoods and potential properties.

yup.)My biggest regret in (my financial) life was not  not picking up the homes that went into foreclosure in my neighborhood back in 2007-2008.  

Hit him up for coffee and pick his brain. 

Pick up broker which fit you best,  advertise yourself as much as possible, make a name, get a few properties under you name, and then star planning on legal entity.