For example if you can buy something at market value in a absolutely killer area with tons of growth and where you can spend some money on rehab and get a great return in equity I think that's not a terrible idea as long as you plan to own it long term.

I agree @Karen F. our previous manager was terrible, so we switched in early October to big company that has multiple managers and in house maintenance staff 24/7.

Don't raise the rent until the next lease renewal, and maybe not even then.Honestly, this is why, in my opinion, condos are a terrible investment for your average investor (unless of course you're investing in an area where there is sure to be rapid, immediate increase in value - sort of like buying individual stocks is not a great idea, unless you have a surefire way of knowing that they're about to skyrocket in price).If I were you, I'd think about selling the condo and get as much as you can out of the deal. 

But I was also never terrible. 

Not to mention that the ROI in Italy are terrible compared to the Americans one.

The push was giving up on the idea of the "unicorn" deal (perfect in every way) and building intrinsic confidence in myself- the belief that I'm savvy and determined enough to rebound and recover if things don't go as expected....even if they went TERRIBLY, and by sheer grit I wouldn't allow myself to tumble back into poverty. 

I house hacked a SFR and added an ADU to get my foot in the door a little over a year ago and the property breaks even as is and will cash flow (terrible ROE, but my goal was to get started) when I move out.

It confuses me terribly. 

My goals outside career advancement and RE are to travel to as many places as I can during my 2 weeks off each month as inexpensively as possible, so my living situation location is not terribly important to me.

In-between the horror stories of terrible business practices & biased wholesalers defending themselves, I was intrigued by the 1-in-1000 that actually honored the craft of making both seller & buyer happy.