If you buy now while rates are high when they do drop, real estate  will seem like a much easier game and you will have more experience for that next one as well. 

If you were all in at $355K including closing and holding costs .

Hold him to the signed lease?

Been in this game for 30 plus years.

If you buy as an investment, your return will mostly come from your rental yield as long as you hold the property since you won't refinance and since Tulum isn't a market for BRRRing or flipping.

I saw a BP post which recommended a simplistic approach of  one LLC for operations and one Series LLC for asset holding, however it seems NC doesnt allow Series LLCWhat are my options and what are pros/cons?

If my focus was just on appreciation, holding it long term and keeping the low interest rate would probably be the better choice.  

Hey Ronnie, I'm a local broker, investor, and property manager (100+ Airbnb listings)Props to you for jumping into the game!

I feel like there's some pretty cheap properties out there, and with financing involved I can get in the game for pretty minimal cash-out of pocket.

Investment Info:Single-family residence buy & hold investment.