Distressed sellers in a good economy are quite uncommon. 

It is the way this particular city's economy is set up. 

My dad was advising us to wait a bit as housing prices are pretty inflated as of now, so our target time would be in about 1-2 years, or feel out the economy as the recession seems to be right around the corner.. 

The Austin and Central Texas economies are incredibly strong, with sky-high demand for housing.

How do you think this will impact the local economy... 

If you're open to any US state, look up those which are landlord friendly versus tenant friendly, have lower tax rates, better economies, growing populations, etc., etc. 

I was looking into Wilmington NC a while back but got the impression that tourism is an important part of the local economy.

One of the few places with a strong economy, growing population and can still buy under 100k/door. 

Can anybody here recommend me any articles or books that focuses on real estate and the economy.

$1k for closing costs sounds unrealistic. 70% rule says you need to get this closer to $1MM, but that gets distorted at higher price points.My major concern (aside from being darn sure about your numbers) is that a year is a long time, the market and overall economy could change a lot.