I currently live in New York and own a rental property in South Carolina.

Since I’m moving out of this building into another duplex in south Portland I have fears of not being available to drain that area in the event of a flood.

Remember though, we are at or near the peak of the market cycle, so if this "turnkey" SF is in the midwest, or south - in one of the "hot" markets like detroit/Indianapolis/KC it could very well be worth about 50K during the nexf market downturn.

As such, there were several months and periods of time that I did not have income, just money saved, and went to help out my family down south. 

Yes the more expensive cities have smaller or zero CoC returns the midwest and south are the ones with the higher returns, also Baltimore on paper has fairly high returns, but make sure you learn the area well if you plan on investing in a place you don't live.

I'm a 31 year old pre K teacher and mom living in the South City area of Saint Louis Mo.

I live in New Zealand and own a small portfolio of residentialand commercial properties in Australasia and South America.Goal:I have USD$150K cash (I am not interested in pursuing bank finance/leverage).I would like to cash purchase a $130K residential property in USA.Find a trustworthy property manager for < 10%Refurbish the property for < $20K.Rent the property for an approximate 20 year period.Question:Which three counties in USA should I consider/compare/investigate ?

One of the easiest places to rent, and have the highest ROI's are south of Disney where "short term rentals" are zoned.

Houston is a complex market and I don't know every neighborhood, I only know the south side really.

So if 'north and south' of my house (or the room I'm laying it in if only one room) is longer than 'east/west', I lay the flooring in a 'north/south' pattern.