In general, their 'costs' are paid from the sales proceeds and they leave closing with a check or other monetary instrument (like a wire transfer......I'm sure real cash has been used from time to time, maybe bitcoin....you get the idea, something worth liquid money). 

I would find one, buy it, and give it to my kids in 30 years along with a little story about how life has ups and downs and we shouldn't let that push us into a fear induced state of inactivity.Or just buy bitcoin...

Real Estate Meetups, Bitcoin Meetups, House Hack Meetups, Financial Independence Meetups are all good places to start!  

It's not exactly the same thing but it kind of reminds me of someone who wants to get in on the bitcoin money train now, or buy Tesla now.

Never make open ended agreements.Count yourself lucky that they are not hosting a server farm for Bit Coin mining.Asking nice is the best start, expect them to say no, terminate the lease at the end of the rental period with lesson learned.

It was an abandoned property and I did the due diligence to make sure the property can be acquired and refinanced through a smart contract note on the bitcoin blockchain.

Crypto may be appealing for some since bitcoin and etherium are at all time lows.

--- If you want to be 100% hands off why not just buy mutual funds, index funds, or bitcoin, why REI? 

On this trip to Mexico, I must have seen at least 10 restaurants that read on their menu:  “Cash only, no credit cards, BitCoin, Etherum, or Ripple accepted”So of those of you who are considering Mexico as a place to invest, I would love to hear about it.  

Bitcoin... was here until... well you know. ;)Nice AA reference!