The other part of me is questioning if I should wait 9 months, save up some more money and continue learning as much as possible to see if the housing market softens up to get into a better deal. 

I have Money saved, but I would like to avoid using it if I can, so I have looked into Hard money lenders as the quickest option, I would like help evaluating if it makes sense to use that route of financing. 

My advice: find something that needs a little bit of work and save yourself some money doing the upgrades yourself - although it is fairly priced. 

I'm interested in flipping too, but I've always preferred the long term hold strategy to building equity, and ultimately retirement wealth.

I’m 63 and retired and I would like to begin building a real estate portfolio to supplement my income. 

Canada, specifically Vancouver, is one of places we are seriously considering for retirement.

Here is a list of lenders offering such loans:https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/2810/50272-lis...I'm really big fan of using retirement funds for private lending,  you can get decent return (10%+), risk is low and it is truly passive.

Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save.

To save time it doesn't need to be an actual phone call.

I saved up some money and bought something without having a clue.