I would prefer to self manage to avoid the high poperty management fees (I think its around 10% + 1 month leasing fee, etc.) and I also worry that the property manager will likely not be as dilligent in finding high quality affordable vendors, etc.I see 4 major pieces of work1) Tenant finding: I feel comfortable doing this remotely.

The only true way to price new construction is to design the basic plan, then price all the finishes from the least expensive to the most expensive options you would put in. 

There are opportunities in probates but by design the court system limits what these are.

I could list countless scenarios where a lender seemingly screwed a borrower/investor over, either by design, or unintentionally. 

Basically that means developing Investor portfolios, managing commercial assets and design build.

Travel is mine, I wanna see the world, meet people, and experience life outside my comfort zone. 

If you don't mind providing some data for me to reference I'd appreciate it, but understand if you want to keep some or all personal--namely I'd be interested in approximate location, bd/ba count of your property and the rent % increase (or if you're comfortable sharing actual prices) implemented between your last tenant and current one. 

Anyone with experience with this during the architectual drawing and design phase of the build? 

Finding good renters is going to be every house hackers biggest concern.Since you are a private landlord, you can set you application guidelines as strict (within reason) as you need to feel comfortable.

If your wife is comfortable living close to other tenants you can get some low down payment loans and have the tenants cover most if not all of the mortgage.