In Berlin, rental arbitrage has been very profitable, with average annual margins of 25-40% after all costs but before taxes, so shifting to a market where arbitrage is barely breaking even is definitely a reality check.Given your experience, would you say the best way to enter the market now is through purchasing properties with financing?

My team is looking to purchase a new property each month of 2025.

Purchase price: $275,000 Cash invested: $294,000 Sale price: $355,000 Seller was behind on pay HOA payments and in risk for losing the property.

What if I told you that you could purchase this property at 20-30% of the initial price, would you take that deal? 

Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

The only two ways to rectify this are (1) purchase the property far below market price or (2) significantly increase the property net income usually through some method of “repositioning”. 

Additionally, we have a decent amount invested in retirement accounts, which we plan to continue building over time.As part of the move, we’ll be purchasing a larger home.

I wouldnt give any consideration to what the seller needs in order to break even in determining the purchase price.

So, you can do a land contract for 12 months, which should allow lender to credit you full value of the land vs the purchase price, but the loan will pay off the land contract, so the lender maintains first lien position.Can't help you with the rest of your question, but you should be able to search for "CPA" here on BP to find experts to reach out to.

When did you purchase these properties?