Since it was a contract job, and rent is cheap here, I have rented since I got here.

Prices of Housing in San Francisco is sky high and Austin is relatively cheap.

But he is correct in his statement.I can guarantee you that any non-accountant using some cheap computer program for  taxes is losing more money than it cost them and more than if they had paid a good, qualified accountant over time, you should be saving more than you pay, but your income needs to be sufficient as well.A basic economic principle, the "marginal propensity of consumption" it basically says at some point the value of anything becomes less as consumption increases, that applies to your time as well, thinking in reverse, that means the cost of you doing something increases when you do everything yourself as the value of the benefit remains the same.

I recommend the cheap old  Dodge Caravan mini-van I now drive, for example.

I am a new investor myself with a whopping 1 deal under my belt, so I'm not sure I am the best advice, but I would say the absolute first step is to have a real in depth conversation with you bride to know what's comfortable.From a monetary perspective, I would buy a cheap home in a good area that needs many repairs, add your sweat equity, and trade up your home in 2 years (or re-finance and use that to start earlier).

Both have treated me well, probably slightly higher cash flows in Little Rock namely because property taxes are so cheap.

Stain is ~$40/bottle and sealer is $200/5 gal.Tile counter tops are really cheap to install.If you do exterior repair on soffit or fascia, always go back with hardie, less maintenance over time.Places like surplus warehouse will give you a 3% landlord discount on doors and windows (and they're already dirt cheap).Capex is important to keep track of but with so many alternative options to pay for the expense, I don't stress too much over it either.  

We're hoping to stay here for many years, but use the equity we've built (through home equity loans, heloc, etc.) to buy a cheap rental property later this year, and go from there.

That sounds like an awesome way to get over here and live for cheap while you make some great money.

4.9% is dirt cheap in a long term historical context.