Obviously one would still need legal and accounting support. 

If the local market is healthy and rental income will be adequately managed by a property manager, then a long term residence could be used to build equity.

To help support that avatar, try and have on-site parking and ideally a place where a large work truck can be parked without issue (think fully decked out F-350). 

If you want to violate them thats your call. but since your asking sounds like you want to follow the laws which I support and would recommend.

They strategically avoid speaking to customers and offer support via online chat to a non US based helpdesk.

U invest in the fund and there is no debt ahead of you you own the debt free and clear the only risk is they buy the wrong debt and the underlying collateral does not support the investment.. which is why you go with folks that have a lot of experience in the space and now how to value the collateral.

Their debts would include not just car payments, student loans, and credit card payments but also things like child support paid.

Some questions to consider:1) How much negative cashflow can your other income stream(s) support?

If you can get financial support to get a duplex/triplex, I would recommend this.

Investing in the market that you have knowledge of and the economic factors that support it is necessary.