i always thought that japanese make great tenants, respectful, clean, pay on time.

On the other hand, flipping is considered a trader business and taxed at one of the highest rates.I have a feeling this is a no-brainer decision when you factor that in. 

The Whole Foods/Trader Joes/Starbucks principle works as well.

The spread is the same concept but "widen".The banks and Warren Buffet is actually more like "spread trader".

Otherwise you always have the unknown of big changes  My purchasing criteria is to buy in the area with the strictest housing and STR regulation and a few miles from the Hilton resort.I guess 50% of my Airbnb book is from US traveller, the rest are European and Japanese travelers.

I was like holy cow.. why no debt so you can make better returns.. they lived through the Japanese crash and once they exited they are VERY conservative with debt. 

My first job out of college was as a trader at a hedge fund.

Contrast with stocks or mutual funds where you more or less park your money and wait (unless you're a day trader).

That's a stock market day trader mentality.  

Think of this - how realistic do you think it will be for you to become a day trader so you can quit your W2.