It takes time but worth it.How do you plan to finance your first property—are you looking at traditional loans, or have you considered other options like house hacking?

If it does not cash flow as a stand a loan rental don't buy. 

I can say from having taught classes on these loans that your contractor will be the biggest key to your success.

Ask your lender about a bridge loan....

If you don’t care about maximizing loan amount then you could start whenever.

One solution could be a Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) loan.

And lets say you then rehab it only to find out there is bad title and you make a title claim.. if there is no loan on it your only going to get 50k from title insurance and you will lose the 50k you paid for the assignment and any money you put into rehab. 

Loan: 20% down, $4,038/month PITI.

If I find a deal on an area I would consider living when I move back I would like to be able to pull the trigger and possibly refinance into an owner-occupier loan once I move back to the US.  

Real numbers- purchase 907k,rehab , closing costs, soft costs, 840k, all in 1.747 mil, basis for each unit should be roughly 291kappraisal of each unit minimum 400k , so 2.4 mil if for all 6.I might refi only 4 out of 6, that will cover initial loan amount.