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This conversion was done without proper permitting and approvals from the city and obviously the additional bedrooms are not showing in the county records.

Private lenders are all pretty much stated income - we mainly look to see that your strategy/plan is sound and you have money in the bank to make it happen.

To refi now or wait...I am at a point where I am about to refi a rental property in Reseda, California that is undergoing construction of a garage conversion to a ADU.

I want to get started in Real Estate Investing, I have a paid off home in Arizona. looking to refinance and do the whole BRRRR Strategy BUT the problem is that i am a foreign national and refinancing my home is nearly impossible I've called close to 20 banks and private lenders and most of them dont even deal with foreign nationals and the ones that do make it nearly impossible to invest with the high points closing costs and rates. what i was thinking of doing is adding a U.S. citizen ( partner) to the tiltle of my home in order to refinance thru them and gt the best rates most money and lowest closing costs possible.

Hannah,If you private message me, I am happy to share our rental application and resident selection criteria.

He currently places a very low value on it based upon your conversation. 

Home is in a c+/b- area with private driveway. 

I'm looking to fund deals and am curious about opinions/experiences on crowdfunding sites vs private money etc.

Not to mention points on the mortgage if you're doing a private lender (though I don't know any private lender giving 7% at a 30 year term to someone with 0 experience, and I'm also not sure what the point of splitting the difference between FHA and private lender is...you're either doing one or the other....)I'd put the cash on cash closer to 4-5% on this.