My main goal is to build small multifamily, Ideally duplex giving buyers the option to rent one side and use rental income to offset mortgage payments and for investors to have worry free maintenance free asset that will cashflow. 

This way I can also control the maintenance cap/ex aspect. 

And it's one of the few, true, "set it and forget it" investments out there, as there is no maintenance and virtually no risk - the only risk is a US Government default (which would be apocalyptic and thus one of the few things our gov't would never do). 

My total expense ratio on each property I own ranges anywhere from 40%-50% annually, but I also self-manage and am not a slumlord (I am pro-active with maintenance, not reactive).

These can be used for things like payroll but will get trickier when talking utilities or repairs & maintenance as a lot of those have to do with how old the building is or what condition it's already in

I could just put it in that box of my spreadsheet to account for the expense and then in most other ways, it's the same issues - capital savings, maintenance, vacancy, etc? 

Theoretically, at least.Since the U.S. courts routinely find these foreign asset protection trusts to be a sham, and transfers to these trusts fraudulent transfers, the assets in the trust themselves need to be beyond the reach of the U.S. courts system.

You only need a place to track tenant information, payment history, maintenance, etc.

The agreement stipulates:"The owners agree, that no water shall be used for commercial purpose, but only for their private domestic use including vegetable gardens and livestock maintenance."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?