Rent is below market rate for the general area.

I'm analyzing properties in my expensive market which has a dire need for affordable housing.

California is just not affordable for us, but we still loved living here.

It's got everything to do with people just not be able to afford it, even if they wanted to.

One of the key challenges I’m facing is understanding the financing options available to someone without Canadian residency or a local credit history.From my research, it seems that a 35% down payment is often required, with interest rates around 7.5-8.5% for non-residents.

And I will stay in my condo until I can afford to buy a bigger place.However, with high interest rates, I’m reconsidering.

For example do you have a great w2 and can you afford to cover costs of a major repair or 3 months of vacancy?

You could also get a line of credit for about $150k (you should be able to borrow 75% of the value.)The reason I suggest this is…1) you save $40-$60k in selling costs. 2) you have a lower blended interest rate (2/3rds at 3.25% and 1/3rd at 7 or 8% instead of the whole $500k at 7 or 8%) saving you another $1k/mo in interest. 3) you only pay interest on that $150k when you actually use it, not from day 1  Unless you hate this property, or want to buy something you can’t afford without selling, that would be my plan.

Once you have a good understanding of what you can afford, reach out to your landlord in a friendly and casual way.

It was off market, I paid a local bird dog $20k for helping to get it to the close and even including that $20k at market rate it met the 1% rule.Today my underwriting would not have a 1% ratio with 80% LTV as positive cash flow in class C.