. - if you need two stairwells and an elevator, that will of course drive costs way up and it also eats into your floor plate area and can crush layouts on a smaller building, possibly turning your small CMX2.5 lot you'd planned to build 5 stories on into what may as well be a CMX2 lot and allow only 3 stories, since you can't actually fit 2 stairwells, an elevator, a hallway all the way through from front to rear, a small lobby, a mail room, etc.

For those of us starting out, and looking at lower end real estate, saving for expenses will eat up a good portion of that monthly cash flow until we get a nest egg to hold, or until you (I'm in the same boat) get into more expensive/valuable properties.

You also should not have all of your eggs in the Airbnb basket IMO

I can say that self-managing a STR from afar is beyond me (no experience as a property manager) so that would eat into cash flow. 

And going to eat up the rest of the savings pretty quickly buying in that area again. 

This move would allow you to keep that long-term asset while using the equity to grow your portfolio—maybe even in a neighboring market.Selling (or Wholesaling):If you decide to sell, keep in mind that closing costs, real estate fees, and possible taxes could eat into your potential profit.

It's important to factor in HOA fees, which can eat into your cash flow, and to carefully look over the rules set by the association, some have strict rules on rentals.

I don't know how fast these buildings can appreciate in these markets but personally I would be considering if I should just eat the loss now.

If oven, washer, dryer go out, I would pay them some money for during the week for food to eat out or laundromat, and then fix on the weekend.As you said you're in the learning phase.

However, I'm starting to worry about managing these properties once I relocate.While cash flow is likely to break even or be slightly positive, paying 8-10% for a property manager would significantly eat into my margins.