However, here are a few strategies to explore:Local Real Estate Investor Networks – Join local REI groups, meetups, or Facebook groups where private lenders may be open to funding primary residences under the right terms.Seller Financing – If the seller is open to it, you could negotiate a seller-financed deal where they act as the lender.Community Banks & Credit Unions – Smaller local banks may offer portfolio loans with flexible terms.Wealthy Individuals / Family Offices – High-net-worth individuals sometimes fund private deals, especially if they see strong equity and repayment potential.IRA or Self-Directed Retirement Accounts – Some investors lend money from their self-directed IRAs for real estate transactions.Since you’re willing to pay higher interest for a short-term solution, a contract for deed (land contract) might also be an option, where the seller keeps the title until you pay it off or refinance.Would you like me to connect you with any potential private lenders?

Banks and credit unions might have lower-cost options, but they'll likely require more equity.

On a more enterprise scale, I employ RevMax software as well as a fractional revenue manager who looks at the prices daily on a market level and a comp set level. 

For years they made bank as a pioneer in the STR market.

Thankfully we are commercial bank clients so our rates are as low as you can get in the market place for anyone who is not Lennar or DR horton or those types.

I contacted the bank and they told me the person needs to go through the regular qualifying process such as income, credit core, employment history, etc.

Currently, all my finances are done in Canada (Canadian credit score, no LLC, Canadian bank acc, etc.). 4th point, would that be threw conventional financing?

You will also need to have a US Bank account.  

We have 40k in the bank and 100k equity in our current house (but we can't afford a larger payment on our current residence).

I could never buy land in brickell it's more than 300 million per acre. but in columbus I can buy an infill lot for 40-60k within 1mile of Downtown Columbus. we looked at hundreds of Floorplans and found that 2 bedrooms seemed to be better than 1 and we wanted a tight compact floorplan that could get high rents. rents are higher Downtown Columbus and property values are higher Downtown Columbus by more than 40%. after that we wanted 4 units but it was commercial so we stuck to 3 units because it's residential. in February of 2024 we submitted our first design of a stacked triplex that is 2 beds 1 bath. after design changes, we now have about 7 approved in our market. all of the underwriting of banks is based on long term rentals.