In real life, it's slow-going and in my experience rents are lower than it seems like they should be.

You can't find land in Piney Point cheaper than houses in 77063, the proximity doesn't mean it gets an associated up charge.The Heights(77008) post recession has been one of the best neighborhoods in Murica, let alone Houston.FWIW, I'm deep there and 77007(near Memorial Park). 

Hi Billie,  I'm starting to get knee deep in research myself. 

It's also a really slow time there.

The building in central Texas exploded ten years ago and I see no sign of it slowing down.

Their communication is slow at best and you have to ask to speak with a person and hope they provide the Calendly link to schedule a time.  

But the first few months where I didnt have any houses under contract I was stressed I was slowing down to much and going to hurt myself in the future.

The issue I found when visiting these places is that the nicer suburbs are not much cheaper than some of the cheaper areas of California (many single families are in the high $200,000's/low $300,000's so the draw is not as enticing if I can purchase something in my state for a similar price). 

There might be a product you can treat the line with to help slow the process down. 

I'm an avid reader of BP but I'm also a self-taught investor like many of us here, barely 3 yrs deep into REI, so I'm certain blunders abound.