.: You might be able to raise extra capital to support this project by listing the property for fractional ownership on lofty.ai.

Sales prices and mortgage rates make it really hard to find good deals today.Wholesaling sounds good, but you could make better money working extra shifts as a nurse.You could look for run-down properties as buy-and-holds.

Address basement concerns by improving the shower usability and adding soundproofing.

Not adding any additional living space, just dividing the two units, putting a kitchen in one of them, and probably not having to add a bathroom to either unit.  

We will take the quick deal any day over making a few extra thousand bucks.  

Remember to always budget 10-25% (depending on age/condition) extra as a buffer.

It's a good idea to start doing the research and planning, but adding stateside management now might just become something where you find it hard to manage the manager.

Akron is not LL friendly, they were the first in NE Ohio to pass a rental registration ordinance (in the 90s), in 2021 added source of income as a protected class - so you can no longer rule out S8 applicants, and passed STR registration last October (and nearly a year later still haven't been able to enact anything).  

That would mean the extra 5k would technically come out of my pocket, right? 

. :)   I'll likely do the HELOC and not worry about the extra taxes on gains over $500k when I finally do sell someday.