A Short Sale may be the way to go, but a Lease-Option can still work and could be way easier since it does not require bank approval.

Is it easier to find a rental property in Lufkin?

This is probably especially true for SFH, where the target renter demographic would probably want to settle down and own a house anyways, since the mortgage is a lot cheaper than the monthly rent.SFH buy and hold investors in the San Antonio area, what are your experiences like?

When the reward is multiplied by multiple properties the bumps are easier to survive.It is not a question of whether one property can be profitable it is more a question of whether one property is worth the effort based on that profit.

Do you have a target price range?

By cheaper i mean that it would be easier for me to get into the investment. i am living abroad now on a lower salary, but will be making a position change soon and start saving up a fund for a return to USA and to start investing. plus, by that time, I will have a track record on the san jose property that i guess i can use to get into other properties. 

At this point my target vacancy reserve has been met so that is extra cash flow.

Long term that could be fairly challenging I think.If you are talking 100k cash and not leveraging j think that’s much easier

If you have real estate experience it will be easier for you to get a pre approval letter because it is technically commercial property.Or you could just show the broker your proof of funds on the equity side and say your going to be buying with bank loan as well...so basically your LTV will be somewhere between 70-80%

Look at my post and see what you thinkhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/87/topics/557031-using-facebook-ads-to-target-equity-list?