I would then explain that for their comfort you have added a ductless system.

That's the problem because you have no ultimate control of your property and it's a sign that you're treated second class compared to the locals .

A single person can reach out to 100-200 owners a day with a single line dialer, many more with a multiline like Mojo Dialer.3) Once you have a system in place, you can hire a VA to help you cold call and just hand off the responsive leads to you (they won't really hand off appointments). 

That way you would atleast control the foreclosure on the property. 

Quote from @Victoria Phifer: I don't recommend charging anything on a credit card unless you have total control of your finances and can pay off the balance every month.I charge everything I can to credit cards, but I pay the balance off every month, 100% without fail.

Condos are a much riskier investment than a SF rental because you control so much less of the deal. 

I think this is the gift and the curse of a still emerging asset class (short term rentals) - as it becomes more "institutional" i.e. more like commercial real estate with more sophisticated buyers then financials and systems for this will likely become more streamlined and stable, but we are still in a place where the buyer pools are more newish investors or typically residential basic investors, so not has experienced or sophisticated evaluating investments based on a detailed financial analysis like more seasoned commercial investors likely would.anyways, just a guess on what might be going on here

But you need to learn all about landlord/tenant laws, how to do basic repairs, know what average labor and material costs are for common projects. learn about payment systems, how to interview property managers, tenants and handyman services, build a team of realtors, contractors, title, hard/private money lenders, inspectors, appraisers and soooo much more. 

You remodeled it at some point and added a new roof and HVAC system and that was all in for 50k.

I think Chris nailed it perfectly - you have to take your DD to another level and also be in a position, both financially and contractually, to take control of the situation if the borrower defaults.