I'm not sure why you say it doesn't sound advantageous to you...your next paragraph clarifies that individual homes sell for much more than their similar duplex counterparts.

Homes that are smaller sell for a higher price per SF than their counter parts, same as buying a six pack vs a 12 pack.

You would probably be surprised at the rental rate increase in just over a year as Hamilton was always the ‘cheap’ place to live in comparison to our Halton and GTA counterparts.

Unfortunately I believe Hawaii is a place where you need to be rich already :(Jobs pay 30% less than our mainland counter parts.

I'm not experienced enough to know when I'm chasing an investment down a hill.  3) I've read that in a down economy, lower class properties tend to fare better than their counterparts because renters begin to downsize their lives.

Perhaps your counterpart can do the same with their client.

You're better off getting a Mexican tax advisor who will work with a US counterpart.

In Houston, I think the counterparts might be Waller, Hockley, Sealy, Hempstead, Anderson, and maybe even Navasota (this being closer to College Station but still). 

A 15-year mortgage requires an even higher monthly payment of $1,530, but with a smaller amount of interest paid at $75,398.Note that 25-year mortgages often feature lower interest rates than their 30-year counterparts, resulting in more savings on interest.The only reason to move to a 15 or 25 is to save interest in the life of the loan but your payment will be higher than a 30. 

@Cesar Escobar In my opinion, if credit is not a concern (i.e. you can qualify for a conventional loan if you want to) there are two main reasons to use a 203k loan:You require a construction budget, but aren't able to put 20%+ down to acquire a construction loan (or don't want to)This is a first time rehab and you want to take advantage of a professional consultantThe second option has much less impact than the first. 203k loans tend to be more expensive than their conventional counterparts.