I would just keep your nose to the ground and search hard for the right property.

She goes on to say that the seller in SC is building a new house, hasn't broken ground yet but were thinking a November close as they have a place to go in the meantime.  

Who in their right mind moves in cold weather with snow on the ground?

I would like something that is simple to run especially from Hong Kong (of course I understand that I would need a property manager on the ground at least).

Build it smart from the ground up so you can manipulate the meta code, Facebook Open Graph code, and the Google+ code.Make sure you build a wordpress inside the site and blog on it often.  

Also remember you'll need someone on the ground(good birddog / locator for one) in those out of state areas that you're trying to close in; so team work is your best bet. 

Just like a marriage, the guy has to realize he is going to lose if she holds her ground and HAS TO HAVE her way.     

We have about 6 properties in the rent phase, 1 is through the finance step.  

I'm also in the learning phase right now and I'm plowing through the BP Podcasts.

Note: tell both the Realtor and the property managers up front that you are in the investigation phase and are not “buying” anything on this trip.