I don't want to be against investing in low price slow growth region like Texas, if you want to buy lots of houses and don't mind remote landlording, that's fine, you can still have potential to make lots of money.

However, I do believe that remote landlording and buying lots of low price houses and having to management remotely is much easier said than done. You can do it, but you will soon realize how much efforts you have to put in and how tough your perserverance can last.

I think it's better to focus on fewer houses, in determined higher growth area, but right now depressed area, finding -20%, -30% discount properties, even though they may be a little tougher to make cash flow, they are still not too tough because of the discount you are seeking. In these regions, future growth is a lot faster, i.e., 7%+ average annual rate versus 3% average annual rate in slow states. You own less houses, less work and better return in the future.

One of the worst enemy to investing in real estate is 2 kinds:
1) Remote investing
2) Our own patience.

Remote investing is hard, but our own patience can be even more harder to maintain during a long flat period.
That's why I set rules for myself:

1) Never go beyond 3 hours drive to investing in properties, even if you can theoretically hold for 8 years and get good return, most people can't sustain that long, and quit at year 5 or year 6..., our own psychology is working against us.

2) Do go beyond 3 hour drive when pre-construction flipping houses, because in this strategy, you don't have to landlord at all, all it would take is 6-10 month's of flipping cycle.

Currently, flipping is next to impossible, but when good times come, flipping shall be the top priority, holding is very tough, that's why lots of people can't accomplish it. For those people who understand what I am talking about, just wait 4-5 or even 7 years, wait for the next boom, then go out and flip new construction houses.