Looking forward to legal advice for LLC opening. any referrals who have experience with international investors? 

One of your biggest challenges will be separating all the online fluff from reality.EXAMPLE: several S8 "gurus" have already been exposed as frauds, but unfortunately, they sucked in thousands of investors.You're an engineer, use your education & experience to start building up a logical approach to investing in rentals:)Start with this:Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.So, when investing in areas they don’t really know, investors should research the different property Class submarkets.

And hey, let's talk experience.

Hindsight is 2020 of course :)I’m not too worried about HOA fees and special assessments, I can still afford those out of pocket even without rental income.I have no experience with private money lending.

They may be able to give you some input and feedback based on their experience. 

There are some that don't charge interest on the money for the rehab until you're reimbursed from the lender on it.There are other lending guidelines out there such as: -Any level of investor experience-Funding in as little as 10 days-Credit scores as low as 640-Non-owner occupied Single Family, Multi Family up to 4 units property types-Purchase Loan Amount – up to 90% of Cost (depends on area you're purchasing and if you have a higher credit score)-Rehab Loan Amount – up to 100% of Cost-75% maximum after repair value-12 to 24 month loan term with Interest Only payments.

But I'm currently at that thrilling stage of working towards my first deal, exploring various strategies and niches.I'm here not just to seek advice but to contribute and grow with you all.

I wanted to reach out to see if anyone with experience could give me some insight to the current market.

Most of the OOS markets investors target do not have much appreciation potential, are lower end properties that will have ongoing issues and will not give the OP the opportunity to self manage his units to gain true real estate experience and understanding.

Can you create a unique experience for your gusts to get to 75% occupancy?