Personally, I bought a 3 bed single family home soon after starting my job and had two friends from college rent which covered my mortgage plus a little extra.

Some people seem to get locked in to one place they find, or a place a friend or family member is selling without really evaluating the available market.In a small town in East Texas I would think your biggest risk is a big player coming to town that can absolutely crush a smaller player. 

I have friends that own property in Costa Rica.  

DM me if you need a contact for an investor-friendly lender.

Consider me a friend in the charlotte market and let's grab coffee (there are many cute coffee shops here and I can tell you where to find the good texmex)

Imagine something as simple as deciding tomorrow to spend 3-6 months in Australia because it’s too cold here, or I haven’t been, or a friend dared me.

This one I did 50/50 with a friend makes it way less stressful and allows me to do two projects at once without overdoing my risk tolerance. 

It was suggested that we create an operational company that will lease rooms to individuals in recovery.

The answer is NO, based on the language of Section 152(c)(3)(A):...an individual meets the requirements of this paragraph if...

I rented out the additional bedrooms to friends and family, charging them well below market, and sold when it was time for my wife and I to start our own adventures.