Are you saying you have superior skills to make this scheme work?

Days wind down and now they have a (knee jerk) reaction and buy something non-optimal for a property just to avoid tax penalties.Had they been realistic starting out they would have had time to locate quality properties to buy instead of looking for a Unicorn.

Tell them that you are serious about running a quality STR and to have them call you at the first sign of problems.That will give them some peace of mind and have a way to get a hold of you instead of calling the cops.

I think their general stance is going to be to go with whichever comparable property has the greatest degree of similarity in terms of (probably, in this order): location, age built, quality of construction/current condition, and square footage.

I really am a fan of RISD because it is high quality across DFW in general even relative to the big names in Collin county.

The allowed rent amount should be pegged to market rent, so it would only be way off if your unit is a way different quality or neighborhood compared to average. 

Risk assessment and mitigation: Quick analysis of crime rates, school quality, economic stability and environmental risks. 5.

The quality of those constructions in Mexico is generally top notch.

But I also sometimes think owning only 1 property in LA would be less stressful and a more reasonable mortgage payment would improve my quality of life.

Under bidding, poor quality, not following timelines - those will all kill your project.