Lots of overseas investors are buying US properties, except they are paying cash :) unlike us poor schmucks having to get loans ;-)
My approach is very similar to the one laid out by "arebelspy" in his post about buying properties without having seen them, except that I am not assembling the team myself but instead going to a company that specializes in "turnkey properties". Some of these companies have a bad rep, so it is really important to go with one that you trust or have heard solid referrals for.
They buy the property, typically a foreclosure, renovate it, find a qualified tenant, and then sell it to you already rented out or close to being rented out. You purchase the property and going forward pay a 10% management fee. Since they are the local experts, they can very accurately predict the rent that the property will fetch. They usually recommend a bit lower than market rate which tends to attract longer term tenant.
As you can imagine, you want a trustworthy company that won't just put a junk tenant in there which bounces in a few months. These guys are in it for the long term and they get all their business from repeat investors and referrals so they are very honest and reliable.
They specialize in a couple of neighborhoods in Memphis and their properties are usually around the same price point and rent (it varies a bit, some are better deal than others) so it is easy to compare deals.
They also got a good team of banks/mortgage brokers they can recommend, attorneys for closing, etc... which makes the process a lot easier for out of state (or like us, overseas) investors.
So there it is, your start making your positive cash flow from day 1. They offer 1 year warranty on the house, as well as listing the house for no fee if the tenant leaves within 1 year for any reason.
I've also had another company guarantee the rent for the first 12 months, which came in handy when the house took some time to rent (gulp!).
Fire away if you have more questions. Would be happy to help.