If you are limited to those areas for residency, and you choose to keep that job, you are going to have to either a) wait for a couple years and save up a heftier down-payment, b) change your strategy like you said and go for houses further away (do flips, STR or BRRR).Or, if you are sold on the house-hack concept, at some point you might have to look at a different job that allows you to move where house-hacking will work....

They used to say what's the difference between someone choosing to eat bacon triple cheese burgers every day and getting a heart attack, do you go stop them and say no eat a carrot "fatty".

I choose Italy because I have a few advantages there.

This was my first property, and while it's been a great learning experience, I made several mistakes along the way—ranging from choosing a realtor who was more focused on closing the deal than finding the right house, to having a poor inspection and overlooking issues hidden beneath the surface (literally).

I don't know where you fall, but if you are aggressive, then there are lots to choose from (more than 100 deals a month) and they are very easy to locate.

The city is rapidly growing in terms of population and job market with so many major companies choosing to move and develop here like Intel, Google, Amazon, etc.

Then focus on improving your interviewing skills to help you build a solid team on the ground wherever you do choose to invest.

Now some choose to do it with TK companies and give up the control factor that you have with your investments.

Quote from @Shakthi Kamal: If you don't know the answer, choose the umbrella insurance.

Then use the extra roommate rent income to pay down your mortgage and look to refi to a lower payment in the future (3-5 years) - so it cashflow when you move out.You could also choose the smaller unit and STR the other unit to generate more cash to pay down your mortgage and refi, so it cashflows when you move out.Bottom line: you'll have to get creative to solve your cashflow challenge!