If you're planning to buy in the US, there are programs for those that aren't US citizens.

Quote from @Michael Smythe: @Felicia Jenkins the shorter the term of the lease and the more tenants there are, the more challenges you'll face - especially if you plan to manage remotely.Who will be your boots on the ground, do showings, maintenance, etc.?

I am planning to build a portfolio dashboard for my properties in Excel, and I have a pretty good idea of what I want to see about them individually and combined. 

Projected sale: 950-990k Replacement property budget: 990k - 1.1M Plan: rent out the replacement home until meeting the requirements, then move into it while renting out a portion of the home via short-term rental 

If I have several options, I would prefer a HELOC with no initial draw requirements (i.e. to establish a literal line of credit that I have no specific short term plans to use), i.e. not something like the better.com HELOC. 

There's other items such as this where it may be helpful to talk to a CPA/EA for a little tax planning, especially since you'll likely get caught up in the passive activity loss limitations if taking bonus on a single rental property as I often see.It's also useful to mention that even if you do the cost seg study (I'm assuming you're doing one to be talking about this), you'll still benefit from accelerated depreciation in the form of shorter useful lives on the assets where you received bonus from.

Just in case.Ultimately whatever correlates with your future plans but a solid way to build long term wealth.

.✅ Hands-On Experience – If you plan to grow your real estate portfolio, managing tenants yourself can teach you valuable lessons about leases, maintenance, and local rental laws.✅ More Control – You’ll personally handle tenant screening, rent collection, and property upkeep, ensuring everything is done to your standards.✅ Stronger Tenant Relationships – Being involved directly allows you to build rapport with your tenants, which can lead to better communication and longer leases.Cons of Self-Managing❌ Time-Consuming – Dealing with maintenance requests, late-night emergencies, and tenant disputes can quickly become a second job.❌ Legal Risks – Chicago has strict landlord-tenant laws.

Source , but for the ones that are that could be a risk if Trump and DOGE's plans to cut those jobs ends up reducing a significant amount of the jobs in DC.

But what is really important is that you understand the terms of the loan, including the length of time and when you can expect to get the money back, how it is secured, and the process of getting it back if things don't go as planned with the investment.