I am calling on my biggerpockets family for advice, connections, stories, and general motivation.

The obvious problem here is that I am not a US citizen or hold any visa of some sort. 

You appear to have the gift to motivated the masses!

Welcome to BiggerPockets man, I'm brand new to REI like you are and BP has been a huge help in getting me motivated to start investing. 

I know a general contractor who will be helping me renovate the apartments, but he lives a ways away from me and wouldn't probably be the best for an on call sort of situation. 

The great thing about being a part of a big network is you will have all sorts of investors in the community that will be of use to you.  

You might want to consider San Marcos, too.I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, but it has all sorts of great data and articles about Texas cities and towns.

As far as motivated sellers you have to get the word out,now i am still struggling in this part but must be persistent, like the old saying persistence reduces resistance.

Every time I listen to one I get fired up again, they are extremely motivating. 

I have a nice write up concerning the nature of the business I'm interested in doing with them, but what I don't have is: a list of clients, contractors that I usually work with, proof of funds, and really any sort of legitimizing material to suggest I know what the hell I'm doing.