I worked 6 years as a drilling engineer. 4 years in Dubai for the national oil company and 2 years with a major E&P Oil and Gas company here in Houston.

There's a lot of snake oil salesman out there so be careful. 

@Austin JamesUnderstand the area, the current tenant base,the median income, is it in a flood zone, the age of the asset, the condition of the plumbing, the electrical wiring, the fuseboxes, the age of the roofs, the age of the mechanicals, the condition of the foundation, the drainage of the property, does the property have a C of O, is there ny environmental concerns such as oil tanks being buried, the current property management company, what are the amenities.These are just a few things to look out for.

CA  Sacramento area .. plus got back end equity.. but I had already been a top producing Broker for a decade before they let me work with them. these guys started small doing garden apartments in Sac... 15 years later well over a billion under management .. we had MF  adult care MHP   land developments ( my specialty)    Anyway.. by the time these companies are going they have full on PM  they have 20 employees they have a sales and marketing department that also doubles as customer care.. they had over 5,000 investors.. why I will never personally do this.. is when things changed and the MF started to leak oil and lose value.. it was a nightmare and I watched these guys implode.. so who needs that stress not enough money in the world for me PERSONALLY to take sponsor risk .and last thing i would do is invest with someone with very limited experience in the space.. you have no controls as a limited.and things have peaked a lot in the MF space.. most guys i know that do it have to look at hundreds of deals to get one. do you have the bandwidth to do that.. can a 15k class teach you all of the above. ????

I've heard horror stories of landlords having to pay a tenants electric bill for the year because one light socket ended up under their electrical meter.Further more, the house appears to be heated from one central oil or diesel heater in the basement.Is this a common scenario or does this sound like an expensive disaster?

Remember that "All that glitters is not  gold", "Luck favors the prepared individual" & "There are more than just a few snake oil salespersons and also good folks in the RE and finance world." :-)

I am a field technician in the oil and gas industry. 

The Okanogan makes sense, since Calgary oil money is quiet right now, and Victoria and Nanaimo have always interested me because I suspect that more retirees are heading that way.

I am also an oilfield worker looking for the freedom that real estate can bring, especially in these days of sub $40 oil prices.

Texas is more energy and oil.