Without a solid plan, fix & flips would be huge gamble.

Most gurus have their clients journey end the moment they send them the money, they join a facebook group - have overseas VA;s moderate it and provide some old videos that get repurposed.Those who are new and thinking they are creative typically get crushed as they are gambling not investing.

New construction has been an adventure so far. 

They need to have enough disposable income to where they are not dependent on a high return, they need to be adventurous, they need to love the idea of owning a property in Costa Rica, and they need to have a very high level of trust in you and your ability to manage a property well in another country.

Until you get better clarity on those answers, you are more likely gambling instead of investing.

So in reality you are ALWAYS gambling in the stock market, yes, even with those big names that seem inconceivable to every drop and ESPECIALLY with those because most are so shocked and in disbelief when it occurs that it's only realized after your left with pennies on the dollar because you waited out a recovery that was never coming. 3rd: MATH and leverage.     

If its going to be a 2 day drive or a 7 hour/$1000 airplane adventure with a 3 hour layover in the middle, not so cool.Both of the properties are also places we don't mind going so its not a huge hassle if we need to drop in.Taxes:  The taxes get significantly more complicated with new state returns.  

Thanks for taking the time to share your adventure and REI journey with all of us!

I'm going to leave the minute details out, but it was quite the adventure trying to get my money in the right place (and that wasn't due to error or time issue on my part, or dragging of feet in the bigger financial institutions), even when using direct preferred/recommended vendors to RADD IC.

It's one big gamble on the market trading sideways or up.