Contact a realtor or mortgage broker to find properties, negotiate conditions, and investigate financing alternatives.

The other common alternative is to wrap the treads of the staircase in carpet.

Alternatively, once the existing tenant is out, you can lease at market rate.The real challenge of "non-landlord friendly" areas in the form of: your ability to adjust their rent from one lease term to the next, rent control issues that would limit your ability to ever push rent increases over time, any mandates on required renewal options for existing tenants (typically come with rent control measures) and the ease and speed with which evictions are processed. 

@Lily WangHouston's varied economy and rising population make mid-term rentals (MTRs) an attractive alternative for a variety of tenant groups.

@Keaton VolsTo expand your real estate portfolio and achieve financial growth, consider refinancing your property, saving for a down payment, implementing house hacking, partnering, exploring markets, building a network, educating yourself, diversifying into alternative investments, maximizing tax benefits, and maintaining an emergency fund.

TICs have fallen out of favor but as long as they are structured property and are run by a good operator (see point earlier) they can be a good alternative.

However, there may be alternative tax strategies out there that are more applicable to your current situation or property.

Alternatively, I could liquidate stocks to pay off the property but I'd be subject to capital gain taxes and obviously not leveraging.

I wanted to ask the the group if anyone has used alternate means of raising capital, strictly to buy another piece of investment property.I am new to the group and looking forward to any dialogue. 

Will you be using the BP calculators (or alternative) to determine "pure" cash flow so you find a deal that really works.