Eventually, years down the road, I would like to sell some of the properties that I have acquired to pay off other properties and own them free and clear.

Time.Any time a tenant cuts off communication, you should treat them as hostile. 

Look for a house you can ADU, BRRRR, or sell off a lot.8.  

@Katelin UhinckIf the commute is an issue you could buy a property that cashflows to go toward personal expenses and still have the long term benefits of having renters pay off the mortgage.

One thing that we have done is to actually sell a property with a lot of equity and then use the proceeds to pay off the loan on another property.  

Multigenerational situations are tricky, but the dog and bed bugs would throw me off. 

The numbers are fine to get your first deal off the ground, as I wrote above.

Now that Fannie/Freddie have gone back to 5% down on multi units, as long as you have good scores and dti, conventional may be the best option.Be careful of lenders promoting no PMI options.

Sadly, while the government of Puerto Rico is quasi bankrupt and therefore has little money to promote tourism or invest in the necessary tourism infrastructure, the Dominican Republic is constantly investing large amounts of money in those two areas.

My wife currently stays home with our 3 children and I work a mid-level corporate job ($76K salary), so my DTI ratio is high.I have identified 30 properties in my area that are either vacant land or are occupied but make some sense to slice off 7-12 acres for this move.