If you have 80k cash, you should have many options to invest using rental financing.

Is there another option that the kids should consider?

He will try to justify that joining his program will be your best option, unless you have an unlimited amount of money and time to spend doing the research and learning real estate investing on your own, but the reality is that it does not take much time nor money to learn what he teaches, and even more; it will basically take a dozen of some of the best real estate investing books on Amazon and the time to go through them, subscribing to good sites as this one,  and joining a couple of good REIAs in your area, without having to pay for such expensive and useless mentoring.

I am having a designer come up with three options for interior and exterior combinations that are in the same price point.

Then have an attorney assist in drafting the needed documents & agreements.My personal preference has been to have one person hold title & the other hold a recorded option or lien position depending on their roles & needs. 

My house is not pet-proofed, which to be truly one would have vinyl furniture, no carpeting, etc;3.

That may be a more plausible option, just to have an umbrella policy for now.

If you're a true cap rate focused investor, I don't think either of those areas are going to present appealing options.

You may try engaging a broker who can connect you with multiple options, rather than just checking with one lender. 

Tons of rating factors that impact the price from one property to another.I say this without even considering coverage, service, and what you might want as there are usually choices to be made.Your best bet is to work with an independent agent that can provide advice along with multiple options for every scenario so that you can find the best value in each situation.