How legit is their practice if you have an idea about it?

I just worry sometimes when I see too much gung ho... and maybe not enough practicality, so I try to step up and offer a little advice from my 7 years in the business.

Quote from @Frank Barletta: It is more cost-effective and practical to install a large-size TV and get the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and Sega Mini consoles.It comes with games preloaded, legal, and each to swap in case something breaks. 

It's hard to harvest equity on these plays, unless you commit, long-term, towards very light leverage, as the only practical ways to benefit from the equity in your portfolio, if you plan to never sell it, only exchange it, for a lifetime, are to spend the cash flow, or cash out refi.

These books are filled with practical advice to help you avoid these mistakes that start small and snowball into major issues.

For a relatively "safe" creative financing, one needs serious reserves (lots of moolah) and the ability to sell or refinance quickly when one of those "hiccups" occur.The gurus usually collect a large fee, from people who have neither money, reserves, nor experience.

Whereas for me (at this stage of my investing career and my personal life) if a project is profitable and supports my ability to live somewhere with better cost of living and quality of life, the balance between the two can be just as valuable. 

They need to have enough disposable income to where they are not dependent on a high return, they need to be adventurous, they need to love the idea of owning a property in Costa Rica, and they need to have a very high level of trust in you and your ability to manage a property well in another country.

And in the modern era, real estate and stocks returned practically the same amount (within 1%).

First things first, when assessing property managers, it is crucial to prioritize their ability to collect rent and manage delinquencies.