@Collin SchwartzMIH my friend.

Prepare for the journey by partnering with an investor-friendly agent.Good luck!

These loans are more flexible in some cases.As for banks in Cleveland, some of the more investor-friendly options to consider might include:Huntington National Bank - Offers business loans and could be open to working with foreign nationals investing through U.S. corporations.First National Bank - Another local option that has experience working with investors, especially through corporate entities.

Quote from @Michael Nguyen: My friend and I are starting our real estate journey together as partners.

They have literally millions of users and transactions to perfect their processes and features. 

If your goal is personal-use real estate, cashing out the 403(b) is an option, but it will incur income tax and a 10% penalty, significantly reducing your available funds.

Friends who are heading up this project got me interested.

Can you recommend any investor friendly banks in the area for mortgage and quick refi? 

At a high level, this is generally the path people take - we see a lot of people have success in this route - start building the portfolio with banks, low down payments, and then **generally** when you hit around 5 or so properties - it starts to make sense to switch over to LLCs, its too hard to qualify/deal with paperwork of banks and switch towards private lenders like DSCR Loans - (LLC friendly, easier) to scale past 5 or so.

Until now, I’ve mostly shared this journey with close friends and family, but I’ve realized it’s time to open up and document this experience for everyone.