By the time it was all over, the court fees, attorney fees ate up the entire EMD and then some --- this seller never intended to sell the house. 

To get started, consider focusing on house hacking in California with properties like duplexes or single-family homes with ADUs, or explore out-of-state rentals in landlord-friendly markets like Ohio or Georgia.

I have long form articles on both this Fair Housing law with section 8 and the scam tenants with fake info on our website.  

Quote from @Edgar Duarte: hi allI would love to get some perspective from your expertise, we have a property that we would have to sell in 2025 to avoid paying taxes on the capital gains, we believe we rcan sell it for $700K and get an equity of almost $500K after paying the mortgage balance, if we invest all of it option in index funds at 7% rate (standard com growth calculator), or in more rental properties as we are all here for, I can get the equity of around $900K.option B would be keep paying the house at 2.3% int rate while we have it in AirBnB and maybe sell it in 10 years for $900K, knowing that we would be paying taxes but it is not that bad still. or we can 1031 at that point?

Buyer go to open house directly.

I also paid interest on the loans.Is the utilities for the house that is completed and rented a expense deduction for the year or does it go into the basis?

For example, for a 500,000 purchase, the Land Transfer Tax would be approximately 6,475 while if the same house was purchased in the City of Toronto, expect to be charged about 12,950.And as a foreign buyer, a premium would be added: I really don't know the numbers here anymore, consult with a Real Estate lawyer for an estimate here.- Work Permit ?

I’m hoping that once I do have enough saved I can buy the second property and continue house hacking.

For example if you think the house is worth 200K fixed up you need to pay 100K to afford the hard money loan and rehab budget and still have a profit.

Attend local builder associations or networking events, and focus on small contractors or businesses without in-house permit expertise.Highlight how you save time and ensure compliance—it’s a big value-add.