Because for a certain type renter it’s just SO easy to continue renting fully furnished rather than having to spend $20-40k on furniture; come up with a down payment on a house purchase; and or worry about repairs and maintenance.  

But the best house buyers don’t let it slow them down. 

Concentrate on your development cost and keeping them down and the deal will pencil.

. ($150k down, 5 year seller financing.) my point being you may get $20-$40k more in a year if you don’t need to sell. 

I want to do a house hack for my first property and would like to sit down with someone over coffee to get guidance on how to go about it. 

If someone is walking down the street and trips on your sidewalk or a  walk way whether its a tenant, delivery person or passerby you are the one who gets sued because its premises liability exposure.

Ultimately, you will need to have the borrowed funds in USD and ideally in your US business entity bank account to sail through underwriting with US lenders on US properties.Caveat: the rates will likely be something like 10-12% so it would not make sense on a long-term holding, more like on a down payment on a purchase and rehab value-add project that you will eventually sell (or cash-out refinance) to pay off the borrowed funds in a few months. 

Which is why paying down debt seems especially compelling these days. 

I don't know the laws in Australia, but in the states, you can usually get a low down payment loan if you will live in the place and you can do this up to a 4 unit and rent out the rest.

But we dont go down the chain to see if the roofer is paying his shingles bill though /  Having Subs you can trust is paramount in this business.. cheap is not always what you waant you want subs that are making money and pay their bills and have credit..