Here is rounded numbers but ideal for my clients I represent as their realtor.

@Joaquin CamarasaAside from exceptional situations, there is no way that you can get away with anything close to a 15% down payment as a foreigner in Latin America.

Hopefully I won't have to do that 2nd round of authorizations/payees thing - sounds annoying.

Yes tips for self managing since this will be our first go round.

If you calculate that we had only  1 other month of vacancy over the previous 14 years or vacancy rate is nearly zero and it certainly would round to zero.This is not to say someone will never have a vacancy and you must be diligent about filling haven't units, but if you're assuming 5-8% per year in a small multi or SFR that is self-managed then you really need to reconsider your numbers or your commitment to the investment.  99.5-100% occupancy should be your standard, if you use a PM I would use 5-8% because they must use a numbers game to make money and the economics require they have a lot of units under management at one time. 

Just be sure you have a good handle on those big ticket items. 

Many Metropolitan and Suburban building departments will require the drawings to be Certified by a Licensed Architect in order to submit for Permit; however, in more rural areas you may be able to get away without the Architect's stamp.

I don't know what code enforcement is like in any of these municipalities but in the market I primarily invest in people can get away with making it "multi-family" even though it's not zoned for it. 

In a round about way they told me I’m not going to be able to force equity into the property by rehabbing them...

Unfortunately this is a broken world and we can't get away from crime.