I've worked with some Canadians buying  here in Ohio.Indeed, rather than selling your stocks to fund investments (and lose out on any potential price appreciation and dividend payments, as well as incurring capital gains taxes), a nice alternative is to borrow against some percentage of the holdings.You would start with the brokerage where you hold the stocks and see what their loan program looks like for the account you hold. 

I will probably wait until the loan is finalized to do anything to be on the safe side regardless this time.

could be just like a regular deal, but if you're up for pitching, presenting and educating a seller on the tax and other advantages of seller financing, you just might turn it into a seller finance deal.

I have been listening to the podcasts for years and have finally gotten serious about making this move to better my families situation. 

You might consider: Consulting a Real Estate Attorney – Your emails may possibly prove misrepresentation.Requesting Public Records – A FOIA request might reveal why the city denied you but later approved the duplex.Escalating to City Officials – Bringing this to local officials could expose inconsistencies.Exploring Tax Write-Offs – A CPA might help offset your financial loss, if it is possible.I’d definitely seek legal advice.

Most of my options were breakeven haha still learning the game.I am in the process of finalizing what the exterior finish will be on my new build, most likely very light grey stucco, pretty excited about it.

Finally: *DO NOT* let tenants attempt to fill holes or do touch up themselves.

All-In Costs & Profitability-ARV: $450K-Purchase Price (financed): $170K-Repairs: $150K-Holding Costs & Financing: ~$20K–$30K (insurance, taxes, utilities, interest, etc.)

A lot of forum members are experts in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, buy and hold investing, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.There are some pretty nice discounts on many products and services offered as Perks to BP members that you might want to check out: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proIf you haven’t been to it already, the Bigger Pockets blog features links to their fantastic podcast and many great articles: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members.

To set the stage, I'm owner of a short-term rental property in the Poconos in PA and we use a property management company for bookings, maintenance/cleaning, guest management, etc.This past weekend we had a guest booking but when the guests arrived Friday evening the house had no running water, though it had been running fine earlier in the day when the Property manager (PM) was at the house to give a final check and leave the welcome packet.