. : )Hi Sonya,Ohio is a great market along with many others in the Midwest.I always stress to new investors to focus more on establishing trust and relationships with key people on the ground rather than looking at the stats and demographics of a particular area straight off the bat.Every time I lost money in real estate wasn't due to the numbers not working in the deal.

Some goals that I have set for myself are:*Become an avid member in local REIA groups*Start a real estate investing company in the next 3-4 months *Get my first wholesale deal in the next 4-6 months*Build long-lasting relationships through real estate investing I have a deep passion for building relationships and I'm hoping to establish some great ones here wth the BP community!!

You have to establish some relationships and then cultivate them.

Some locations I’ve considered are Indianapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, Charlotte, and Baltimore, because they appear to be better suited price-wise for someone just getting into the game, and their rental markets seem stable and profitable.I’ll be in the US for about 4 weeks from the end of May to the middle of June, and in that time I hope to visit at least one potential location to meet with brokers, and try and establish a working relationship with an accountant and lawyer, and other investors.

Sounds like you have pursued establishing a solid base via 401K and conservative investments and then plan to continue to gobble up more good REI deals.

Next, "dry funding" has some serious issues even if you can find some idiot closing agent, good title is not established unless a buyer has good funds to close and escrowed funds are not good funds that a prior buyer is entitled to use.

What I want to know is, if I move there and get myself an established job history, with a 20% down payment and a proven income of ~$1200/mo, is it likely I could be approved for a 15yr loan?

While not actually written into IRS code, the 2 year holding period was essentially established by way of a written IRS ruling on the subject.

We have some funds w/ Guidant which now uses I-direct to establish the LLC.  

For example, a great way to start is to establish and build your credit worthiness.