It's definitely daunting to invest out of state but with the market growing so rapidly in the midwest there are plenty of resources that work with out of state investors regularly. 

The Bellwether District will change the city for the better and along with Amazon coming into the Eastwick area the change will be rapid. https://www.thebellwetherdistr...

I do believe in and have experienced the benefits of using leverage and gaining rapid appreciation.

See this chart of the monthly median sales price of single-family home in Austin in 2022:While a number of factors contributed to this shift, rapidly rising mortgage interest rates had the most significant impact locally  in 2022.

Just had my attorney put em together last week for 2023 (Even with em, consult a local attorney to make sure they hold weight in your market)https://drive.google.com/drive...

A few months ago I let everyone know that I closed my first duplex in Grand Rapids MI. they wanted 145k for it and I ended up getting it for $135,051.

Specifically, in the last 1 1/2 years, I've seen the purchase prices for flip/rental properties rise from 85-110k to 110-135k while in conjunction, ARV values have also increased in that same timeframe from 200-220k to 220-250k (obviously depending on the block).Given the data and the rapid increase in appreciation on top of now houses are starting to steadily sell around the 250 mark, I think we'll see a 275k house around the 57th-55th block within the next 1 1/2 years.

With the way I screen tenants, the public record is not the #1 weighted check.

How rapidly could you save without a mortgage payment combined with your salary + the cash flow from the duplex? 

If you want to keep scaling rapidly I wouldn't recommend having all the debt and only half of the income/upside.