That gets worse as you get farther out of the cityTLDR: values depreciate, inflation has gone basically nowhere in Japan for a long time, the supply of housing is pretty good compared to demand (unlike the US) and that's because of flexibility with rezoning and development, taxes on rental income are high. 

Speak with lenders early to understand your borrowing power, and explore multifamily properties to maximize your house-hacking potential.

While opportunities still exist, I think they are still rare with interest rates and property values high.  

However, I had to subordinate the sellers note to 2nd position (hint: set up that language in advance to streamline the process, if that's the direction you're going to go).Since the ARV was high enough, and the potential income would support the mortgage and expenses, it all worked out. 

I do well, at least enough to go on vacations as a family, put money into high yield savings accounts, max out the ROTHs and add to investments when I can with money saved in savings and checking accounts.

Much better as a short term acquisition strategy for flips IMO but always a high-risk strategy that should not be practiced by anyone who doesn't have the liquid capital to pay off the loan if needed.

The overhead to start a company is low, but the cost to scale is high. 

I decided to take a lower CoCr for stable, high quality tenants and have zero regrets.

I has two GREAT property managers that immediately come to mind, one handling 5 high end high rise condos I owned in Phoenix and the other one handling a 12 unit very lower end apartment building I owned in Arlington, Texas.  

I have never been shy of facing challenges and I truly believe knowledge is power (something my grandfather taught me at a young age)I really want to learn everything there is to learn about realestate and am driven and hungry.Thanks in advance for any suggestions or recommendations.