Basically I have more time than money right now.

Once you know the "basics', you can then invest OOS more successfully.If you can't afford to invest in your home area, how will you grow your knowledge of an OOS if you take a shotgun approach to where you buy?

It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits.

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

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

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. 

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.

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.

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?