My realtor basically said it’s a waste of time for everyone..

Lake Wedowee the purchase price is lower but the revenue is much lower than Martin.... basically I am not getting too excited about either of these markets.  

Perhaps I didn't formulate my question very clearly in my original post, but it's basically: if terms are "good" for Americans, and "****" for non-Americans, is there something "in between" for foreign nationals partnering up with a creditworthy American?

Period.Learn some lending basics before you loan a dime to anyone.

You find a deal, but you’re basically forced to use their preferred vendors—inspectors, attorneys, and management.

With your 50k you are probably in that 300 to 400k range with 5 percent down and I would want the other unit to rent high enough that rent minus PITI minus a basic maintenance reserve gets your out of pocket housing cost close to break even or under about 500 a month while you learn.

It’s a great opportunity to learn the basics of construction, join showings, and get exposure to marketing for new homes.

Basically plan for the divorce prior to the wedding.  

Then hiring a management company to do that for you will basically make the property break even or sometimes do worse than long term rental. 

When nearby listings start showing more open nights 30 to 60 days out while rates slide, the arbitrage is basically gone.The other big tell for me is the same one you mentioned but flipped.