I later heard but never exactly why, that the place was an absolute money pit and the buyer, who was very experienced, regretted buying it big time.It is interesting, but I ALWAYS do at least a bit of research on the prior owners and have found few "hard luck" stories, at least as far as either higher or high priced single fams go, they're by far the same story where the owner makes the financial decision to walk away, mainly due to the insane HELOC's etc they were giving out, like 125% of home's current value back in like 2006, so now they'll owe literally like $750k on a home that IF in great shape would at best fetch $500k, PLUS they trashed or semi-trashed the place, so they'd be really lucky to get $400k as is and often they may be business owners or whatever and have a relationship with a local bank who will then know "the whole story" behind the big hit they take to their credit score and not treat it nearly as harshly as the average Joe, who's practically banned from even entering the bank for years!

It's just a chance for local members to get to meet one another in person, and spark a positive business relationship. 

The successful ones are good at building relationships and can fake it until they make it. 

I would learn all you can, go to meetups, build relationships, but only buy something now if you are going to house hack it for the two years until you go and then just rent out your unit when you go.

*This post does not create a CPA-client relationship.

I would also start looking to develop some key relationships.

@Bjorn AhlbladThat’s why I suggested he move form landlord relationship to “it’s complicated” relationship. :-)

While there is plenty of information out there, there is no substitute for real connections and relationships, so thank you to everyone who is part of this community! 

But not waiting means learning, prepping, and building relationships, while also building your financial foundation.

This can be complex and requires agreement on the valuation and division.Continued Joint Ownership: In some cases, continuing to own the assets jointly and managing them through the LLC may be an option, especially if they are profitable and both parties are willing to maintain a business relationship.