Real estate is basically an income producing and or capital gain producing investment.  

China as a low cost producer is past- they have aged and standard of living out.  

Hard to produce cash flow or break even with that much debt, at that rate.House-hackers, however enjoy certain one time (non-scalable) advantages that should be taken advantage of in the early days: - They can assume pre-existing debt like VA and FHA Loans (rather than take it on Subject-To which is dramatically riskier).- They can rent by the room and self-manage to produce day 1 cash flow.- Many of these HCOL areas also have strict limitations on AirBnB or short-term rentals... that do not apply to owner-occupants - thus allowing for extreme cashflow potential for house-hackers.

Did you lie to the mortgage co and produce a “bogus” lease in order to obtain financing?  

There’s no real reason to jump into another market unless your goals shift and your current market doesn’t fit anymore—or if the market itself stops producing the results you need.Mastering one market and squeezing every opportunity out of it is a much better play than spreading yourself too thin and getting half-baked results in multiple places.

But when it comes to choosing or creating investments that will produce a return along with personal fulfillment or enjoyment, then I say it definitely matters what you invest in and where you invest.  

Not likely to produce the result you think you'll get.

I would rather invest in safe markets that produce a good return, then I can use that income to pay for a vacation anywhere in the world.I'm very pessimistic about the STR market in Hawaii.

I'm a local real estate broker, investor, and manager (100+ rentals, mostly Airbnb/STR and multifamily).House hacking is a tried-and-true method and in Sacramento you can produce some meaningful income while enjoying the appreciation and tax benefits of owning real estate.

. - Established and actively managed AirBnB's will continue to be consistent income producers with a gradual growth in returns.