STRs do not require you to be a REP in order to take losses against ordinary income.

Quote from @Kavya Veerapaneni: Hi BiggerPockets Community,I’m relocating to Danbury, CT, from Reading, PA, after accepting a new job.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

Most HMLs I deal with require a minimum of $10k equity (or 10%, whichever is higher) in each property.

Good job!!!

As U.S. citizens residing in Europe, we are required by the local tax code to hold the property in our personal name.

I have excellent credit and good paying job approval will not be a problem. 

It's a very expensive repair (ballpark $15,000) and the cost depends on how long the sewer line is.A lot of municipalities here require dye tests and occupancy inspections.

If you ask the manager to justify a fee and he starts hemming and hawing, move on or require them to remove the fee.

Frankly, I'm sure you do a good job in the space where you work.