My main concern is the interest rates being so high now as to whether what I'm hoping to achieve is really even possible. 

Hey Rebecca, I'm a broker and investor up in Sacramento and manage about 100 investment properties (STR and LTR).Many of my clients are high W2 earners seeking "bonus depreciation" to offset tax liability by investing in STR.

Taxes are very high and everything is super slow and bureaucratic.

high interest rates have hurt cash flow and long term rentals are still a great investment... they're just not going to throw off rental income in the first few years of ownership.

"Good" areas will be priced high, "Bad" areas will be priced low. 

I has two GREAT property managers that immediately come to mind, one handling 5 high end high rise condos I owned in Phoenix and the other one handling a 12 unit very lower end apartment building I owned in Arlington, Texas.  

BiggerPockets also has a calculator to analyze deals, and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy.

If you haven’t already, I’d scope out the municipalities around town.. from what I read in The Economist, the Phoenix metropo area continues to rank high for job growth, which usually bodes well for new builds.

All the best, Steven  If you're going to do a partnership or even a joint venture agreement I would highly suggest using a competent lawyer to draft your business agreement.

.- The holder of a work permit does effectively become a tax resident as far as the CRA (Canadian Revenue Agency) is concerned at which point they will qualify for certain things such as purchase a house without being considered as the foreign buyer; hence, foreign ban hammer not weighing on them.