Normally the mortgage lender sends their own appraiser, who has other methods to fall back on when there are no comps. 

Check out the enemy method. 

Some people use the sq ft method while others might just estimate every individual job (floors, paint, cabinets, shower, etc).

Hi there,I am curious to what other financing methods are out there for foreign nationals in the US?

Their final numbers are only as good as their info and methods to evaluate that info....what if both are flawed?

My $0.02, if you are open to the idea of finding a new primary and turning your current home into the investment, this is 100% going to be the more cost effective method in terms of financing.

Method 1 is much more certain in creating equity to then use on a heloc and method 2 is going straight to work... thoughts. am brand new to the area. very little if any SOI.

As for contacting sellers, you could always go the standard route of a realtor who's likely got methods for reaching out to homeowners.

So my question is, what method do REI in California use to get lists and phone numbers to be able to cold call homeowners interested in selling their properties?? 

Any preferred methods or ideas would be a huge help!