Reach out to a loan broker with your exact info and the exact or at least type of property you want to buy and they should have options and opinions. 

With the limited info, I would say #1 is your smartest option but there are a lot of variables missing.

@William Taylor so many options...Use your RE knowledge to: WholesaleFind rental deals to sell to investors locally or here on BPStart leveraging your personal contacts to build your sales businessFind a motivated seller willing to do seller financing:- Move in worst room or basement, rent out all the other rooms for max cashflow- You could even live in the basement and STR the rest of the house

When I help buyers in COS and they see $700+ HOA and I explain the land lease scenario they don't consider it an option.   

In Oceanside, New non-hosted STRs are prohibited outside of the Coastal Zone as of February 10, 2024.Most HOA's do not allow rentals less than 30 days so that is likely not an option unless you find a couple of places on the water that allow it but usually tough to find below $1M. 

You should have some options! 

But if you are really set on RE you may want to explore options of borrowing against them or taking cash out early.

Starting with a smaller property or a few fix-and-flip projects can help you build equity, gain credibility with lenders, and better understand the process before scaling up.Securing funding for larger projects can be challenging without prior experience, but options like hard money loans might be worth exploring.

Another option is to rent it out, take out a cash-out DSCR loan, and invest the cash in another investment.

I would focus on improving your credit and obtaining a more stable income so that conventional financing is an option.