My wife and I were both teachers at the time and found a great house in an “emerging” neighborhood.

Besides, Florida has no state income tax anyway.Browse this forum, see who answers questions and how.

I saw some interesting single family houses (newly constructed) in the range of 200-300K, for examle in:McAllenEdinburgSan JuanMercedesHow can I deep go into research about those cities and neibarhoods in term of demand for rentals and for sales?

Your house is worth it.

The only thing he told us to do is track expenses and income per property vs. on one large sheet. 

This would then net the seller the most (320k market value) and give her the passive income/deferred gains as well as giving me a low interest loan to work with. 

One deal is just the start, with 1 or 2 properties there will be more highs and lows, but once you acquire a handful or more then things even out.

I’ve recently formed an LLC with a partner to flip houses.

We've flipped a few houses in the past, built a few, remodeled a few,etc. 

https://www.har.com/content/department/newsroom?pid=2107Houston Real Estate Highlights in July, 2024:
-Single-family home sales rose 1.8 percent year-over-year;-Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes went from ...