Hi Timothy, there plenty of opportunities out there, my clients are involved in institutional grade properties across the country.

I would find a specific area of the country......then break down each state.....find the cities in the state that have the greatest population growth......then go to their newspaper and read about all the economic growth in that city......read about real estate development next

Then combine that with market forces pushing many people into the same areas of the country, where you cannot build fast enough to satiate demand for the next 5-10 yrs, and construction costs rising meaning new supply will have to charge a lot more to be financially feasible, conflicting government sentiment to help alleviate the costs (whether it be not subsidizing developers, or not subsidizing tenants).  

I clearly don't know the market or this property, but 9% vacancy does seem fairly high given the shortage of rental units across the country.  

I know a bunch that invest in the US but live in other countries too. 

Thats how inflation works, things keep getting more expensive.Additionally you are moving to the richest region of the country. 11 of the 25 richest counties in America are in this metro area.

@Ragnar Lothbrok - It's sometimes difficult to find a CPA who both specializes in real estate and is located close to you in Michigan.There are lots of good CPAs and Enrolled Agents on Bigger Pockets who work remotely and have clients all over the country.

You are stepping into being the "manager" for the seller since they are leaving the country and leaving their real estate in your hands as the trustee of their family trust and the manager. 

Have you stayed in the big city and then compared that to a place in the country near a tourist attraction?

Both areas are smaller communities in the country where you can find quite a bit of property for a relatively low price but property values are much lower than the areas I listed above.