The beauty and the quality of many developments in a place like Tulum is impressive and it’s hard to resist the call of the beautiful renderings.

They are stunning places, and with so much money around ( especially from Other countries w/ how popular CA is )  I guess there's enough ppl willing to pay outrageous prices to deal with insane policies and other madness,  for the incredible weather/ views.

Bryan,  the most important thing is to ensure you have positive cash flow and enough to weather any vacancy or large repairs. 

Every state will have their pros and cons like extreme weather higher insurance or higher taxes.

Franklin is such a growing county - I know many people who are planning their escape from Illinois financial and political mess and Tims Ford Lake area is popular for housing value and better weather than northern IL.When the time comes and you're past the redemption period on your lot, offer it to the property owners next door and other owners on the street. 

This way you don't need any loans, you get to grow your equity/experience/income with every house, and the passive investors get your time/dedication/growing expertise/energy/and an inflation resistant investment. people want good investments, the Horse, but they mostly judge that by the earnestness/ambition/expertise of the Jockey. good luck :)

I tend to stay south of the Mason Dixon line because the weather isn't as tough on properties.

Main reason was the weather and scenery -- we were able to come thanks to a work trip prior to moving and absolutely fell in love!

Biggest challenge was the weather - the pipes froze when it reached -27F.

Not sure what's to be gained by resisting.