We as an industry are doing substantially less loans and way more are audited than have been in the past.

When you're on a temporary visa, especially without a clear path to permanent residency, the risk involved can be substantial—both financially and legally.

So I know there is a substantial amount of equity in the home but I see that using that equity might not be the best move forward.I will have to explore my loan options.

@Joe FergusonThe 30-acre land parcel with subdivision potential offers owner financing, high ROI, and flexibility, but requires substantial capital, time, and expertise.

Most B areas in Columbus will not generate positive cash flow unless you buy the property outright with cash or make a substantial down payment.

Thanks so much everyone, this is all great advice and information. o.k. going to get the loophole out of my head then.As we are based in Hawaii I have been trying to find a market that is "closer" to us, especially since I would want to self manage an STR and the time difference to the East Coast is pretty substantial..

By sb1482 there cannot be a substantial change in lease terms but requiring notice to introduce animals, requiring keeping public/common areas free of junk, requiring her animal to be leashed in public/common areas, to require instant pet pick up in public/common areas are all reasonable terms, require the animal to not be a nuisance to other tenants (jumping on definitely is a nuisance, but I usually mean this to mean the dog cannot have excessive barking) and would be difficult for tenant to state are substantial change of terms as all those are reasonable requirements. 

I also think that demand for U.S. treasury bonds (which underpin most fixed rate permanent debt products) will dramatically decline over the next 20 years, which will cause interest rates writ large to substantially increase across the board.

you'll be able to get hard money loan but they would probably want substantial down payment ? 

On the refinance side you don't have any points/fees and depending on the type of loan you refinance that can be a substantial amount.