This eliminates the problem of increasing your debt and damaging your credit score.

My main goal is to find something relatively close to the DMV area but without the DMV price tag.

@Rich Davis "The difference is I'm in Maine, where the evictions laws lean landlord friendly.

Hi KyleThe way most real estate for sale is priced these days there’s little to no cash flow after debt service with 25% down - borrowing a down payment would put the investor in a negative monthly position. 

I lend Hard Money, Fix n Flip, DSCR, and Bridge mainly on the investor side.

You'll likely also reduce your cost of living by moving to a stabilized apartment.Depending on the cashflow and debt paydown, you can use this strategy until you've built enough equity to reinvest.On the other hand, getting into a multi-family after refinancing will also help you build substantial equity to rinse and repeat in the coming years.

Let’s break this down because there’s a lot to unpack here.The real question is, how well is that debt working for you?

The structure is mainly appreciation-based, which minimizes tenant and maintenance risk. 

As far as I know, your assumptions about the tax implications are correct for non residents, it was one of the main factors that stopped the idea of investing in Spain for me.

If you're a good student and can get into a good college without going very deep into debt, I believe you should go.