Part of my issue was not having a reasonably priced handyman ahead of time and eventually overpaying to just get it done and also inexperience as a manager.With that said, you essentially have two options: very cheap properties in less good areas (you're looking at 100k or less--which you might have trouble getting a good lender for)  or trying to do some sort of house hack (e.g. live in flip, live in rent by the room, multifamily) where you budget will be closer to 200k-300k.Personally, I would not look at real estate until you are maxing out your 401k and IRA, but lots of folks have done significantly better with real estate than stocks and would think I'm crazy for suggesting this.

So my focus will certainly shift to Portugal.Also because as a REI mentor once said to me "if there is no more grass on the pastures (in this case Germany/Austria), then you need to look for new ones" ;-)My initial (and still very broad) area of focus will be the L-shaped area along Linha de Cascais to the Atlantic and then up the coast till Ericeira.Hope to be on the ground later this summer and always happy to connect and exchange. 

And hey, I get that Vegas feels convenient because it’s closer.

People really like being near Costcos lol There is overlap with those categories and if you look at the comments closer at the top, you  can see price ranges and there can be Class A home in Class B area. 

Those rentals debt serviced and also covered my California monthly rent (I know some of you may question paying someone else's mortgage) but at that time, I preferred the renting lifestyle which placed me much closer to work, my family, my clients, and friends.

The grass just looks greener.

@Joel Lebovits the neighborhoods closer to the downtown area of Canton are more run down, with more vacant/distressed houses.The farther you drive away from downtown the nicer the houses get, in general.

My savings was completely drained from interest payments and surprise costs I had to manage, and lots of little costs that at the outset I believed this guy would cover (100 to mow grass, every two weeks).

Memphis is definitely worth a closer look.

It’s humbling, but it’s also exciting because I know every connection is a step closer to where I want to be.