A nice home that may some day make a bad rental but a good primary home An exchange in to a state without state income tax to save that 10% in state income taxes.  

When you start asking the question, where are we going to get more housing for all of the 20,000 people moving to our valley every year, you look around and say: "I guess I will".Our first project has been over 3 years in process with a handful of friends and my Dad as the primary investor, we are ready to break ground on 17 units of townhomes and multifamily units for sale in West Boise.

It is currently my primary residence and was a great house hack but I’m now considering moving out to live with my girlfriend nearby in her condo.

While I am always looking for off-market, as an agent with access to MLS, that's my primary source of looking for deals right now. 

Quote from @Erwin McClain: I had rental properties out of state but I have been renting rooms in my primary residence for over 10 years since my 2 boys have moved out.

Looking to get into some smaller apartment buildings in the near future.As far as the difficulties of investing in Japan, I of course agree with everything said, but in my case I'm at near-native fluency and own and manage my own business separate from anything real estate related so even without permanent residency I've never had trouble getting a loan (except of course I can't get some govt backed ones like a primary residence mortgage) for business or investing.I'll try to get in touch with everyone local to よろしくお願いします。

The property was my primary residence for a decade and now functions as rental unit so I am happy with the purchase overall and it has worked out well.

Starting out, I would try to take equity from your primary/another property using a HELOC, borrower against a 401k/retirement account, or partner with someone that has cash. 

Primary Homes - most banks will easily do 80% of the value of your home, some will go up to 89.9% loan to value (LTV). 

I buy homes as a primary residence with 5% down and move into them keeping my previous as a rental and the area that I live doesn't have new builds that would work for us, otherwise I would buy a new build.