I have around $15,000 in the bank which could afford a 3.5% down-payment, but closing costs and the first few months rent could be a stretch as my job hasn't started yet (The home would still be under construction so its possible I could achieve W2 income before actually paying a mortgage?).

This creates opportunities for short-term vacation rentals, potentially yielding high rental income during peak seasons.3.

You will likely have to earn their trust at first so I wouldn't expect to have a lead after your first meetup but going there consistently and demonstrating your capability can lead to a deal funnel over time. 

I'm currently living down here but all my financials (assets, bank accounts, income, tax filings, etc) are in the US.

This will allow you to acquire more rental units and also being able to use the vacated unit rents at 75% to help your debt to income ratio DTI.There is a FHA 100 mile rule if you do plan on using FHA on your 2nd house hack.

However I did some research myself on crime rates, and from 3 different sites, they all suggest that crime is rather high in that area:https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tn/memphis/crimehttps://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-memphis-tn/https://www.memphisdailynews.com/CrimeReport.aspxChecking city-data.com, the average salary for that median household income is around 39k.Also, the property value is listed at 145k, which seems like it is on the lower end.

The CAP rates aren't great, the vacancy rates are high, majority of multi-family locations are in areas with unreliable tenants.Overall, it just seems like it's difficult to achieve reliable passive income here. 

The IRS does not allow for the conversion of rental income to earned income.

Even if they are investors maybe they’re got super sweet super secret STR income plans or house hacking by the room plans that generates much more income than your plan.

Ive got about 45 days of PTO/Sick/Vacation that is taken for the year so I work approximately 1650 hours a year at that job assuming a 40 hour work week.I am also a licensed Real Estate agent with 2 separate LLCs - General Brokerage and Property Management.Between the two LLCs, I've grossed pretty close to my W2 income.