I am not sure what type of real estate investing you're considering, but it sounds like, with your family and busy job, you won't have a lot of time to be hands-on or personally involved. 

H there, I'm a certified international property specialist and while i don't personally specialize n Costa Rica,  have several colleagues who do.  

Not worth it if you have to feed the thing.But again, what are your personal goals to investing.

Our manager’s credit score requirement is 550, but even that has been hard to satisfy.

And who better than to recruit a person who is already experienced at such, which there is a lot. 

If a cash out refinance, many lenders will allow the cash out to satisfy the reserves requirement.DSCR lenders generally let you vest either individually or as an LLC.

You can't sell the property to satisfy the bank, because you no longer own it.

FINANCIALS: End of January we will be 100% debt free and we have a personal emergency fund saved.

It was often not a very satisfying answer, but at the very least, they did not dodge me.

I think it is always a good idea to interview a few different PMs and ask for referrals of owners they are currently managing properties for to see if they are satisfied with their PM.Thanks Jake