I hope your tenants stay 13 years like mine. 

@Christopher PhillipsI'm looking to invest in the states and most of your points are wrong1) it takes a week to get approved for a mortgage in Canada compared to what 4-8 weeks or more in the states.2) our dollar is lower then the states so wheres the savings on currency3) i'm not sure about the taxes yet as i don't have a US investment property to compare to mine in Canada4) Foreigners buy houses for their Kids to go to school all over the world, not just in the US.

As a web programmer, it is nothing to write a webcrawler to mine contact info from BP profiles  :sigh:IMO, activity, interests, experience and market area is far more useful

That being said, if I actually utilize expenses that are closer to what mine have been over the years, I'm more or less breaking even on a cashflow basis (maybe a small profit) before appreciation and principle reduction.  

These are companies who can help you improve your occupancy rates, so it pays to know them and understand what they are looking for and how they work.National21st MortgageVanderbilt MortgageTriad Financial ServicesCountryplaceSuper RegionalCU Factorybuilt Mountainside FinancialPark Lane FinanceAlliance Credit LLCRegionalFirst Credit Corp of NY  Oxford Bank & Trust Oakbrook, IllinoisTammac Corp Wilkes- Barr, PAFirst Federal Florence, SCPerformance Equity Partners Tinley Park, IllinoisSantiago Financial Tustin, CAAZ Lending Specialists Gold Canyon, AZOther SolutionsCASH Program – 21st Mortgage  (Specialty Recourse Program for Communities)Darrell Boyd Triad  (Seller Finance Origination and Service for Large Operators) This requires use of your capital.This directory was compiled by Rishel Consulting Group, a nationally recognized consultancy specializing in chattel finance.

I'm not trying to turn water into gold.

@Ungwang Boiteto I would say @J Scott's www.123flip.com is a gold standard.

A friend of mine has hit a valley in life, but wants to look into Real estate investing for a way to get back on a better financial path.

Best way you could go is do an FHA primary in an area like mine that houses sell cheap.Did this a few years ago:  55k selling price, 3.5% down (~$2000), lived in it for a year then appraised it at 115k, cashed out and turned into a great rental. 

Better chance to get families that will stay a while.That being said, more of mine are 2/1s, and they still are doing well.