I have done, been involved in, and/or brokered thousands of transactions over those 42 years. 

Here it is good luck: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/39...If you don't mind me asking why Spokane and what kind of REI do you want to get involved in. 

My husband and I are eager to get more involved in investing in real estate to help out local communities and build relationships with others in the real estate world.

The first lesson that we all can learn from your experience is the need for sufficient insurance protection on our investements.As to your question, my suggestion would be to use your cash to acquire multiple properties.

Hey @Nathan WiebeNever done that but maybe one possibility would be to have the US friend to be the mortgagor.He doesn't necessary need to be the owner and it doesn't mean that he is the one, in practice, who has to make the loan repayments.This setup involves a great degree of trust between the friend and the Canadian investor to the extend that it is questionable whether it is a good idea or not to set it up that way

I feel like I’m getting the run around and have gone to multiple contractors only to hear the same.

But, if you won't be moved by any of that input, on the flip side I know 2 guys who's first storage properties were small, less than 10K sq ft, but now they are owners of multiple facilities and do very well.

After lurking around, I’ve decided to introduce myself and get more involved with the community.Currently, I am working full time as a field engineer while my wife is working on finishing her degree in nursing.

@Christian Nachtrieb - I'm using PML for entire purchase price and in some cases a portion (or all) of rehab funds needed for the project up to 70% of appraised ARV, so no other lender involved at that point and I do not put anything down.

Out of town rehabs need a third party inspector to be involved, and you need to find a benchmark of completed work for payments.