I have several clients who live overseas and when these guidelines were updated, we had to switch their financing strategies quite a bit. 

Chicago, with its vibrant neighborhoods and strong rental market, is a prime location for this strategy.

If not, I would advise researching this strategy.

Our strategy is to buy out of shape properties and rehab them back into shape, so a GC with experience in doing extensive renovations at once would be preferred.

Since you’re open to different financing options, here are a few strategies that might help:Hard Money Lenders – These are the go-to for most flippers since they fund deals fast.

I also think that investing remotely is something I would do after locking down my local strategy.

I work mostly with investors doing just what you are seeking, the BRRRR strategy.

@Jonathan Blanco, I'm and investor and a licensed mortgage broker so I've been on both sides of this conversation.I would look for a lender that (1) listens to you and understands your strategy and needs (hint: it's not always money), (2) has experience working with clients executing your strategy and brings more to the table than just cash - be it advice, relationships, deal-team partners, etc., (3) gives you viable options and explains the pros and cons of each option and (4) you enjoy interacting with - this should be a relationship, not a transaction.Once you find a few lenders like this (and you should have relationships with more than one), then you can start comparing rates and fees.

My strategy would then be to lease at least two of the renovated units, increasing occupancy to 90%, which could improve the chances of securing favorable terms for refinancing.I haven't pitched it to the seller yet.

One strategy is to pursue properties (in your preferred markets) that have been listed for sale for over 90 days (even longer is better).