I've assessed the market in Florida thoroughly and together with my in house investor base, we look to acquire property between $50,000 – $100,00 per unit.  The hardest part in sorting through the deals that fall on my desk is that you have to get the area right.  The one type of property that I have really honed in on are class A apartment communities near to one of the major universities in Florida.  Tenant class in these areas are generally very high,  Cars in the parking lot are very nice and a majority of the students living off campus are the graduate students that take their studies very seriously.  If you can enter a market close enough to the universities you have a consistent rental pool to draw from that requires minimal effort to manage.  This play has delivered the most sustainable rents so far..

We have recently secured a site in Tampa,  close to USF and it sits at 100% occupancy.

Kimberly, good to hear you're thinking about investing in to the distressed markets of the USA.  In my opinion, it's the downturns and the fluctuations in the global markets that produce such great opportunities for investors.  Investing offshore and acquiring apartments/houses/condo's for 70% less than what they were worth pre 2006 is definitely a good idea.

I have a team on the ground in Florida,  If you're heading over let me know and i'll set you up with a few site visits to give you more of a feel for what you can own 

I own an overseas property investment firm, it's run on a global basis but we really hone in on the distressed and emerging markets.  It would be good to find out your objectives, get in touch.