Congrats on your progress thus far.

For me personally, I am wondering about how to benchmark progress.

Banks that know the location and value of the area you are investing in are your best bet guaranteed.

Huge fan of Costa Rica myself - bet it was hard to let go of that house but this is great.

I'm looking for a cheaper and more sustainable option than renting and figured house hacking (buying a duplex) while rehabbing, then renting the other unit, and refinancing would be my best bet.  

I bet the same concerns about litigation existed when people first proposed credit scores and insurance scores.

Your best bet would be a community bank. 

Probably not, you'd probably only consider this because you had bad credit or low income or something that prevents you from living in a safer place.I bet the turnkey provider has rents too high for the area as well...Can you make money on this type of asset...sure but not by paying 70k for it.

Our current investment horizon is about 1 year our so it seems like a savings account is our best bet to keep the cash liquid.

Sure you're going to make mistakes, that's inevitable, but before long I bet a few family members are pulling you aside after Thanksgiving dinner to quietly ask about your "risky" investments and how they can get involved.