I always recommend starting in your own market first, then go out of town, then out of state, but I understand California is expensive.If you need to create cash, wholesaling is the best alternativeIf you have some cash, then maybe do a few flix and flips to build your cash reserves.If you have cash saved, yes you can buy a rental in other markets, but you need to research and create your list of contacts in that marketYou can always buy a fixer upper, then refinance, and repeat, you can do that with favorable rates up to 10 times using loans for a secondary/investment home

He has not paid rent in 6 months hopefully, judge finds in my favor and I get eviction order.  

This is typically more favorable than financing for purely investment properties.Income Generation: You can rent out the other half of the duplex.

When i first started funding folks that were selling to OZ investors about 2010 ( exchange rate favored OZ) and all the conversations I had with OZ investors .. the amount of public information in OZ was minuscule compared to the US..

A seller will favor an offer a lot more if it's a quick escrow with little to no contingencies versus a long escrow and multiple appraisal and loan contingencies.

The property’s location in Garland, TX, and the favorable market conditions indicated a strong opportunity for a rapid turnaround.

Also in general the midwest is much more landlord-favoring so there's more control for you here as well.

It could create a more favorable borrowing environment for real estate investors.

These are areas where you can cash flow in Columbus because the rent-to-price ratio is favorable.

Here, it seems the fact pattern is in your favor but what is the best case scenario?