Now, we have yet to try AirBnB, so I can't really make a legit comparison, yet I don't foresee us trying or switching to AirBnB anytime soon.  

Not a fair comparison of course but I would go for it and see what happens.

I disagree with your comparison of marriage to flipping a coin or russian roulette.

I helped new agents to make offers on HUD houses and they still thought that it's too  complicated in comparison to residential housesYou need to build relationship with agent who's also an investor

Comparison is the biggest Joy stealer.

I would like to ask certain questions but feel like with so many talented investors my concerns are so trivial and pale in comparison to what everyone else is doing.

It'll have the cash out refinance rate hit, of course, but that pales in comparison to getting a killer deal on the sticker price upfront, on the home that you got to cherry pick as a cash buyer.

Is it only in comparison to other turnkey properties that the provide as flipped?  

If you go to this station today, that station in 3 days, another gas station next week....well, gas prices in general might have gone up or down and you may not be getting a fair comparison.  

Regarding comparisons to other countries, I have worked with the Japanese market for over 8 years. 8% is definitely high yield.