Does anyone have a line on a solid agent/lender in the area who can help me with locating a great property that will suit my needs since I am so unfamiliar with the area?

You could easily put the other $860k towards purchasing a few rentals with solid investment loans, and be able to easily make enough cashflow to cover your monthly living cost for you primary.

I am a fairly new investor in the El Paso area and have been trying to establish a solid team and I am finding it very difficult...I'm sure I am not the only one.

If it's in a C/B class neighborhood that's trending the right direction that would further justify it's a solid deal.

@Gary Wildey if you do decide to invest out of state I highly advise that you have a solid team assembled (RE agent, lender, contractor, property management).

After several price reductions we offered lower than the current list price and was able to negotiate a solid deal for a small newly remodeled single family home.

On their application they both said they're non-smoking, however I recently found a few pieces of evidence that one of the tenants has been smoking outside.

As Nathan said the previous owner has "trained" them poorly and that will be evident at some point in the future which would be best avoided.

If so, and if you are looking for a monthly passive income, then perhaps keeping the property and just taking your equity out to roll into another property would be the best move.However, if you aren't looking to stay in Texas and don't want to stick it out, then selling with that much equity is another solid option and gives you more flexibility to take that money and reinvest elsewhere.

I’d skip paying for any boot camps or anything like that, just find a solid lender and agent (ideally who both invest themselves), and learn by doing.