Concerning single family homes, would it be a better to try to find a habitable fixer-upper and work on it in my spare time to increase the value over time to resell or should I plan to pay off and eventually rent out? 

I always travel with young children as well and do not want to expose them to that. 

I travel for a living, so sometimes it’s tough as I’m on the road a lot, but as with anything...if you want something bad enough, you’ll figure out how to get it!

@Andrew Schloe  @Dinah Tabora I'd recommend using a Turnkey provider that is within a few hours drive if at all possible and if not possible then one that is an easy flight (a couple of hours total travel by plane including time to the airport).

Management has put us in a hotel for the time being but it is still a inconvenience with traveling to work and not being able to do daily tasks like cook or do laundry.

My wife and I love Costa Rica and hope to retire there, 50% time in Costa Rica 50% time in US or travel.

I did not feel comfortable with the plan and therefore took a personal loan and travelled to NY, USA where I received professional health care and from here I send my gratitude to the people of NY specially the professionals who helped my fight cancer and get rid of it.Regardless of all the pain associated this dramatic event, there are aspects that we can hold on to in order to go on with life.

The catch is inexperienced investors are slow to pull the trigger and so agents can get frustrated working and never seeing a commission.I purchased my first rental property with little to no experience, used 30K between down payment, closing costs, and traveling to the property to see it.

However, I ultimately decided against it because I'm still active duty and my current assignment is 60+ hours a week with about 75% TDY travel. 

When you retire, do you want to spend time with family, pursue hobbies, volunteer, travel....?