The duplexes will be in B-class mix of blue-collar and white-collar neighborhoods with good rental demand and during times of a recession they should hopefully hold their rental price & demand.How does the plan sound?

The short version is do lots of research and buy Class A or B (you won't cash flow at 7% rates on LTR, unless you do MTR, STR or some creative strategy).

That will help narrow down the questions - if an investment you'll focus on the high tourist area with major airports flying in/out, good local transportation system, less than an hour drive from the airport, a low crime rate etc.If personal then you'll look for an environment that suits your taste (tropical, party central, secluded, dive-friendly, luxury, affordable etc).Almost every island I've visited has realtors from America who decided to setup shop there and help out-of-state investors purchase property.

I believe you misunderstood your lender or they need to take some continuing education classes.

Any tips on how to create a welcoming and appealing environment for these potential tenants?

In our opinion, 523 is a Class D Tenant Score. 

The prices are more closely tied to the income they generate vs what the people next door paid for their house.As for your long term goals, I am not sure starting with a duplex or four plex will open the door for owning in that asset class (larger multifamily) the way you might think it would.

For the last 6 months I have been running my own deals to ground and have come close on a few larger multifamily deals (killed by the rate environment).

What if.....Question is what is your money doing for oyu right now and do you feel you can make more in real estate than another asset class - that is the question you should be asking yourself not what is going to be this or that as its impossible to time the market.

The cost of capital is higher in today's environment.