This is a good deal because you can have insurance that is fully paid up with no more premiums. 

Fortunately it was a location with a PSF of ~$1.5k, so I added more than $100k of valuation (suspect I may not have quite achieved my $2 added for every $1 spent).But the bigger issue I see, if I add $200k of equity at hopefully a cost of no more than $100k it seems like maybe a good brrrr but what if it has expenses on a sustained hold that results in negative $1k/month?  

Also I am thinking now that these are small rural counties with population in the entire county probably no more than 50k or so.. at least with most of those folks living in the city of Oroville which is right on the border with British Columbia In my flying days I would go into Oroville to get through US customs compared to going into one of the airports Airports north of Seattle .

No more problems, no more action.  

Right now I am on the middle of a flip no more cash in hand to make an offer so my only option seems to be investors or a HELOC against my flip or my own house.

The answer is it depends - if there is no more settlement then they are correct you probably do not need piers at this time, if it continues to move then you need to do something.

.- STR limits like no more than 100 rental days per year.- Rules prohibiting guests from using lakes for recreational activities.I want to better understand if operating an STR in this region is feasible, particularly with these restrictions.

Likewise, if the rents appraise lower on the 1007, most lenders will use the highest of the lease agreement or 1007 as long as there is no more than a 25% variance.

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. 

No more debt for me, I would love to follow your example and build up rental properties of my own someday!