I ended up doing that in 2021 and found properties that have made me money rather than costing me money every month. 

The approach involves using a hard money lender (HML) to fund 75% of the purchase price while having the seller carry back 25% in a second-position loan, allowing you to flip the property with little money down.

When I did my research for buying my properties in Costa Rica, I had one of the big STR management companies like Evolve analyze my potential profits and I used that info to raise money through bringing on partners to buy the properties. 

.- Hefty penalty on either one of the parties for early termination of lease Owner plans to invest some of his own money to upgrade/refurbish things?

If the zoning won't allow it, then it would be a waste of money to continue with the renovation.

To answer your question directly OP, to sell a deal and make money. 

It would need to say that if it foreclose then There would be no money coming to the tenant.It sounds like you would like to give the tenant more than money, but we both know that would make things worse. 

Put a little more money into that one and keep it for a while.

I vote spend the time and money:)

I'm not familiar with Canadian regulations but you should look into how you can get access to money if you don't have any.