The other 2 are rented for $900 to market rate tenants who pay for their water and sewer usage.

no, there were not special forms needed. the canadian couple did not, of course have american social security numbers, but they were able to use canadian i. d. in place of that without issue. they purchased the house i sold them and others that they currently own in much the same manner as an american citizen does. i would have to agree with josh, it would be best for your friend to invest in an area of the U S that he can travel to easily. here in buffalo and the western new york area, the couple from canada that i speak of live in toronto which is about 90 miles away. pretty much an easy trip. of course you have to go thru customs on a regular basis which can trigger intrest from them because of the frequent trips, but once they get to know you and the issues that are a part of the reason for the frequent trips, its not a problem. 

I also have  a  joband travel extensively so I would need to get a property management company tohandle the 32 units.

Maybe I should write for the chamber of commece.. at the end of the day I would still much prefer to live in the Napa Valley ( which is were I lived before I moved up there) but its a pretty nice spot really.. and I travel extensively thorugh the US on work.. so I see many metro areas and their housing stock..

I want to be able to travel so you can run the office while I'm gone."

The big question is whether it's smarter to go learn in grad school or learn from books and as I travel on my investing journey.

I have invested across state lines and it still pays as long as i factor in my travel expenses inside of my cap rate.

She's not interested in messing with the properties and wants to travel and enjoy her retirement.  

Traveling back and forth from Florida can expensive.

I have finely picked my destination  and the road to travel.