Fundamentals are on your side.On a personal level I feel for you - it sucks when people try to take advantage.  

If you're buying good deals with strong fundamentals, some debt is not a bad thing. 

For example, using a percentage of gross rent for expenses, without realizing the actual dollar amount is not enough to maintain the property over time.It does seem to be getting a little ridiculous lately in my experience, with many locals here in CO believing the market is overpriced just because it's more expensive than it used to be, so they need to go OOS to make any money, while at the same time a lot of folks from out of state are looking to invest here because they believe we have strong underlying market fundamentals and property is still cheap compared to their home markets. 

Both are excellent cash flow markets and unlike a couple of the markets that you mentioned, both have strong economic and demographic fundamentals. 

Currently, I find it’s been hard to find a reason for wanting a better life, a why that hits at a deep fundamental level.

Not leveraging your portfolio, either via a refinance or more indirectly in an equity raise, is a poor financial decision, from a tax standpoint as well as a growth standpoint.The only reason it doesn’t make sense is if your investment property is fundamentally a loser to begin with, or if you do not have financial intelligence and think it’s a good idea to pay off your loans 100%.

@Bruce GardnerYou may be overthinking the fundamental concept of taxation: there is only one tax on the business profit.

But choosing a market should be more than just about price---look at the fundamentals (population growth, job growth), what you are willing to drive out to etc, and what you strive for in terms of returns vs stability.  

The fundamental principles don't change, but the lending requirements and marketing strategies have certainly changed.

These are interesting buzzwords, but I actually don't think there's a fundamental 180-degree difference between coliving, mid-term, and long-term property management.