Some theming is basic and some is overdone, try to be unique or at least high quality, not a place you want to skimp.

That gets worse as you get farther out of the cityTLDR: values depreciate, inflation has gone basically nowhere in Japan for a long time, the supply of housing is pretty good compared to demand (unlike the US) and that's because of flexibility with rezoning and development, taxes on rental income are high. 

My friend in Big Bear says it's basically vacant unless it's winter.

I'm curious on peoples go to approach to secure financing for an investment property - use a broker? start w local bank or CU ? or even a local brick and mortar bank?

It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits.

So I'm basically trying to explore if i can borrow money in an alternative way than conventional loan.

Quote from @Erick Pena: A "good" rental property is one that covers all expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, property management fees, and any other costs) and still leave a surplus (commonly referred to as cash flow).Calculate cash flow as: Cash Flow = Rental Income − Operating Expenses − DebtThere's much more to it, but that's the basic idea.

i do not however use it for heat mine is an AC only unit I believe not a heat pump unit.If you're whole unit is relying on one mini split for ac and heat that surprises me just given if you shut a bedroom door you'd not have heat from the split that I assume is in the living room. 

That depends, but you can see from a bunch of posts on here that so far you're getting shafted performance-wise because a bunch of people aren't getting any dividends during a time when they could easily be earning 4-5% or more in a basic bank CD.

You understand some of the basic concepts, but also have some giant holes in your plan.