I intend to rent out the units by room to college students (does it sound like this would work in this area and what are some general tips/things I should look out for?).

It’s good to budget for unforeseen expenses.Regarding PMI, it’s worth discussing directly with your loan servicer since many lenders require holding the property for a period or reaching specific equity thresholds before removal.If market rents are $2,200–$2,500, hiring a property manager could help you optimize rent while taking the burden of tenant screening off your plate.

Hi @Vincent Plant,You've gotten some great advice on what to look for in a hard money loan.

if you need $200K for a project, no one is going to loan you $200K - you need a down payment, holding costs, and you need to know what you're doing or you'll just turn that $200K into $150K.good luck

A couple of months ago, I purchased a property using a hard money loan for $115,000.

It may or may not show on a credit report, depends on the servicing and you should have the loan serviced.Failure to include the debt on a future loan application is mortgage fraud, wanna go to jail?

If the loan is being paid the seller/previous owner has no reason to want off of the loan.

The other route you can look into is purchase+rehab loans if it's going to be a primary, if it's an investment then using hard money, bridge loan, or DSCR.

In many countries foreign investors buying rentals can't get loans or loans at all. 

We were trying to buy a loan that was in default and the current lender was emotionally attached and has it listed for over $2M when comps are $1.5M.