Hi Jen,I just wanted to follow up on here.

The primary form of diligence we see on the forums is "what do you think of XYZ sponsor and deal" whereas the common form of diligence in the space by institutional investors, large investment groups, family offices, and sophisticated investors involves following the sponsor for years, underwriting the deals, validating rent comps, background checks on the general partners, and a host of other diligence that materially de-risks the investments.  

While many of these issues are important considerations and should not be ignored or overlooked, there are other more crucial criteria that you must question and evaluate first.The critical risk criteria that you must review and evaluate prior to making your final decision on which 1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary to retain includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:Technical capability of the 1031 Exchange Qualified IntermediaryInternal processes and audit controls to safeguard your 1031 Exchange funds and assetsUse of Qualified Trust Accounts or Qualified Escrow AccountsDecision criteria and guidelines for investment of your 1031 Exchange fundsProtection from potential errors or omissions by the Qualified Intermediary (E&O Insurance) Protection from potential theft or embezzlement of 1031 Exchange funds (Fidelity Bond) An experienced and professional 1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary will understand these concerns and should be happy to discuss these crucial issues with you.

Or find a local design firm that has done cabins where they can show you proven rent results from cabins they've designed and have them charge you by the hour. 

Interested to follow this.

What counts most in RE are relationships, and this is as easy as going to RE meetups and adding every day just 1 new contact in your CRM, and following up every other month.  

It is not always followed, but if anything goes wrong that is when they will make sure the Ts have been crossed and the Is dotted.  

From talking to locals, there's a couple of issues than need to be addressed, some are the non-ecological practices that some of those developers have, unfortunately, our government profits from this investors and allows them to destroy manglers (which are the natural water purifying system of that area) dismantling hectares of mangroves and degraded the habitat of resident and migratory species burying animals alive.There's proof of fecal material floating beneath the city of Tulum, only 20% of the water is sent to the water treatment plant, there's no infrastructure for the exponential growth.The landfills in the middle of the jungle that is leaking hazardous pollutants into the freshwater system and that something that developers won't tell you.I love my country and it would be a disaster for everybody if this place ends up like some other great beaches around the world, that are completely ruined by greedy investors not following the rules.There's no urban or comprehensive master plan, and one of the risks is that Tulum will be like Playa del Carmen is today, overgrown and with environmental devastation.I will advise doing a lot of research before getting something in Tulum, different country, different rules, and practices.

Vetting the tenants and following local laws is extremely important.If you don't own a primary residence, would you consider house hacking (buy a single family and rent out the rooms or a duplex and live in one side/rent the other?

@Blake KirbyHere's an excerpt from the Redfin article you referenced:"The metro area with the highest risk of a real estate dip during a recession is Riverside, California, with an overall score of 72.8 percent, followed by Phoenix (69.8%) and Miami (69.5%).