@Zac Boelkow, this is typically a regional factor; hot vs cold is the biggest termination.You can go short-term with either a mini-extension or month-to-month. 

We bought an old 1 bed 1 mini-sized bath Lake house & literally gutted/rehabbed it into 4 beds 2.5 baths.

Also I hate those little mini drops, to me an agent just does those to refresh on people's hot sheets and they are super annoying.

Mini splits are too expensive unless you are planning to stay there long term.

If a new house were to be built, would it be best to build one that's similar to the one that once stood there (one of those generic mini-McMansions with 6 bedrooms etc) or would it be better to build one that is a slightly bigger/fancier?

So it has become a mini investor community.

Cancun airport to Tulum without traffic is 1:20 min, I don't think is that bad.

It's a mini-government.

Maybe you can set up a mini-vacation where you can take a tour of some target areas with an agent.

Gas station/mini-mart, attendant is inside, hears shots, car crashes into curb outside.