I'm an investor with a couple properties as well as a CPA. 

US debt is not going to be so much for making wealth as much as for preserving wealth.This lesson came home to me talking to a guy near my STR in Florida a couple of years ago from the Middle East.

I manage around 400 rentals and probably terminate a couple dozen every year for lease violations.

I spoke with @Jamie Brayton a couple months ago and she is very insightful!

As a couple others said emergency would negate the $500 threshold but they should contact you to notify when it happens.

One of my early properties barely broke even, but after a couple of years, rent hikes and expense optimization turned it into a strong performer.For cash flow benchmarks, I usually aim for $200-$300 per unit, but your situation.. house hacking.. offers unique benefits like reduced living expenses and quicker equity buildup.

I had a couple other ideas to salvage the deal first.

Hell, even Motel 6 has a couple of junk pictures screwed to the wall.

I used to be a landlord and flipper in New Zealand until a couple of years ago when I liquidated my portfolio and moved out here to Pittsburgh.

My husband and I purchased our first Costa Rica property last year and were advised by our agent that in almost 6 years of working in that market he had only ever seen 1 American Couple successfully obtain a mortgage in Costa Rica and it was from Scotia Bank.