About a month later, it put the house back on the market, this time for rent, for $1,575 a month.A new breed of homeowners has arrived in this middle-class suburb of Nashville and in many other communities around the country: big investment firms in the business of offering single-family homes for rent.

I apologize for the tardiness of my reply, but I was traveling out of the country for a bit and had limited internet access.  

Greetings,Okay so this will be my first investment property, and I plan on investing more in this market (East Texas)The only problem I have right now, aside from finding financing, is that I will be leaving the country to study abroad in Austria from October-February.

Current status - I own and occupy a one-bedroom condo in a very pricey part of the country (DC metro area).

Just a little scared to manage property from across the country.

The upstate is different than the low country and the midlands. 

I have a friend who's exchange student up and left the country before completion and without notice.

I lived in Palo Alto at the time and the property was in Wine country  ( Sonoma ) my specialty in those days was selling owner financed land  I had no patience with anyone who needed a bank loan or did not have cash.Fast forward ( since I was my own broker ) I just looked up  the owner  he happened to live right up the hill from me of off Page Mill Road ( high rent district) called him met with him got deal singed and he fired the agent and I went on to do multiple deals with him over the years including him investing in my projects.

Houston does not have the high speculation California has or had at one time but it does have amazing steady growth with very solid job markets to support sustained growth. 65% of Houston rents due to the large oil industry which leads to higher then normal rental amounts and nicer homes.I have spoke to several investing groups on the west coast that are specifically targeting Houston as their focus.The cost of living in Texas compared to most states is extremely low and one the few cities that you can purchase an investment home under $150k and it be a new home and have positive cashflow in a very nice area.Out of the 500 homes we manage 50-60% of our clients are from out of state and out of country and we get about 20 new properties per month from investors buying.Again I would say that where ever you go Houston or any city you first want to decide what your end goal is and what that strategy is for that goal.

In some areas of California we have to pay ridiculously high prices for land, other areas of the country are sometimes lower.