BUT...if you're American and can still get loans in the US (the silver lining of having to still file US income taxes while living abroad), then why not use leverage?   

Great hosts will be good neighbors, will contribute to local tourism and will pay their taxes and permit fees* A major area to improve on the proposal is the 1 hour time-limit for resolving complaints.

Avoid going for the cheapest properties, as those often come with higher turnover and more property wear-and-tear.Rental Rates vs.

One of the side benefits is that I can avoid the whole draw/inspection process (not overall inspection, just the ones tied to the draws) and don't have to worry about draw fees.

These are features like online renter payments, tenant portal (for payments and work orders), help keeping track of work orders, tax reporting features, and accounting functionality.

While you may always have a skip, early termination, or eviction, spreading out the lease-end dates can help avoid having all units vacant at once.

The loss may be less than the MtM loss, but whatever you do--avoid selling subto.

And it can work really well for you as long as you pay attention to the statute requirements.In order to defer all tax you are selling investment real estate and buying investment real estate of at least the same value you sold. 

Do you see them as a viable option early on, or is it better to avoid them altogether?  

That helps some...but your variable expenses also go up too - property insurance & taxes - so a lot of your rent increases go to offset rising variable expenses.I started at the age of 47 in 2018 and we bought properties fast and furious - 12 the first year, 10 the next, and 9 in 2021 and currently have 38 properties.