@Kevin S.Great question legacy planning is hard enough with family dynamics, add in illiquid and non divisible property for another layer of fun!  

I think that if you play around with the right deals, you will find that return does increase if you lever up to 50%, but if the debt is negative leverage (interest rate higher than the cap rate, going to max LTV can actually decrease your returns due to this dynamic. 

New York offers such a dynamic market for that!

It all makes for an interesting dynamic that we've yet to see fully play out.Detroit prices are up 2x in the last 5 years.

For real estate investors, Texas represents a dynamic market with long-term growth potential.

There are two idea I’m batting around in my head right now to get started on my REI journey – I can do it purely on the investing side and become a private lender or a source of hard money loans to builders/developers (maybe that looks like funding a construction loan collecting interest payments while buying time to better understand the dynamics and build relationships) or I can JV/partner with a builder and get equity (upside on a flip/sale) which would be more hands on.Curious what ya’ll input, what you think is the best route for me to dip my toes into REI given my aforementioned situation and current market.

Additionally, the Courthouse Online platform is a helpful tool for property assessment data, including ownership and sale history; you’ll just need your property’s Control Number to get started.The Property Mapper is great for visuals, but it sometimes lags with the latest updates, so checking with the Recorder of Deeds or using Courthouse Online will give you the most accurate information.

They would be managing 4 to 5 cabins, and I would be setting my daily rates dynamically to maximize occupancy, so this would be a consistently significant workload for the VA(s).

You need to understand deal dynamics, sponsor's approach, etc.  2.

Would you care to share the names and contact info for people you may have utilized to make the returns visualized in your post available?