Not questioning your judgement/assessment, just trying to understand the situation to best advise you. 

Some buyers enter these agreements without fully understanding the financial commitment, often influenced by overly optimistic advice.

Google Ads is a pretty complicated platform that takes awhile to use, but once you understand the mechanics it can be an EXTREMELY beneficial tool because it's...- Capturing searchers with high-intent- Spend is flexible (unlike ILS networks)- Semi-easy to manage once you get the hang of itThere's a lot more I can share, but hope this is helpful!

If you're not sure of you preferred direction with your next property I would invest in understanding investing more thoroughly and read 5-10 books as well as speak to other experienced investors.

Thanks Sarah, I don’t see much house hacking going on in Essex or Dundalk in terms of listings on Zillow or FB so my concern would be finding professional adult roommates that want to house share in that area. i’ve been following a lot of the midterm rental groups in Facebook and the consensus is that contracts have decreased significantly and hospitals are using more local labor pools.

If you like to be risky with your capital maybe try putting it in some index funds, crypto, or stocks that you believe in and understand and then take it out when its made a good return and then use it for the downpayment.  

I also understand that some cash buyers, unlike many of those motivated by greed, are honest and knowledgeable, however I find it difficult to identify them.

@Erick Pena please understand that buying rentals is NOT passive income!

You need to follow through. 

Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.Thank you @Michael Smythe this is very helpful!