Another option if you are looking to rent rooms and there are hospitals in your area is to market to travelling nurses, using a website like https://www.furnishedfinder.com/  These are shorter term leases, usually about 3 months, and you are renting to professionals who are in an area for work.

The downside is they usually come with higher interest rates and shorter loan terms.Partnerships or Co-signers: If your husband or a trusted partner has U.S. legal status and credit history, they might be able to co-sign or help with financing.Cash Purchases: Since you have savings in Canada, you might consider using that for your first property, especially for a smaller rehab project.Foreign National Loans: Some lenders specialize in providing loans for foreign nationals.

Keep in mind not a lot of people are willing to do the shorter term rental so everything is negotiable and they will pay a premium. 

I interviewed another Syndication and appreciated the fact they said 1) They never lost any of their investors money 2) They aren't currently entertaining deals until they are more solid on the market's direction.  3) their Exits are designed much shorter than ODCs.  

the others have been shorter term I use a 3 month minimum..

Also the majority of those costs to covnert to a 2nd unit will need to be capitalized and depreciated, but some things (new appliances, flooring, paint, kitchen cabinets) can be shorter year assets vs. across the full 27.5 and IF it turns out that unit is > 50% you can use bonus as well on those items.

They will bring in shorter term tenants but the lease is still with the tenant the company just does the scouting etc.. still have to vette the tenant but you know the rent is coming from insurance and the rent for me is double market rates at least and generally 6 months to a year so not a ton of turn over and very good tenants..

No comparison to sierra skiing. also much shorter season.  

I would focus on shorter-term activities to generate revenue (flipping, wholesaling, etc.)

HELOCs are great for shorter-term investments like flips or rehab on a BRRRR project.