I realise that it will never be "buy and forget", but good tenants paying off nice homes and some price appreciation over time is much more attractive than C/D class cash flow heaven properties.  

You will be surprised how quickly tenants fall into line when they realise they are dealing with a no nonsense business landlord.

Most quickly discover they are not practical and realise their money is better invested in a conventional home where it retains value and usually appreciates. 

Many investors with equity sitting dead in their properties do not realise that the equity is actually buying cash flow at a rate equal to the existing mortgage interest rate.

Very few people realise that paying rent is the least expensive form of housing and usually best for a investor from the perspective of saving money to invest.  

Hello @Shiloh Lundahl,That sounds like a great plan, I hope you can realise it sometime :-)We really don't know what we will be doing yet, we are learning about our area (Tamarindo), reaching out to other investors in the area and seeing what is possible with the cash that we have...

I'm busy reading and learning at the moment, and realise I have a lot more to read - but my question to you is how quickly did you escalate your investment activities?

I’m realising it can be quite a headache to get through all the steps of the process and that’s what a realtor can help with.

Assuming you can go at this with the realisation that you can lose it all and still recover financially is a major advantage of starting young.  

If you can not pull out the cash through a conventional mortgage, HELOC or other means I would be selling it to realise the added value.