We'll be creating a new entity to handle the purchase and management of our Buffalo properties.Can anyone recommend a local or regional bank in the Buffalo area that might be friendly to Canadian real estate investors?

Obviously these strategies depend on the market and is unique to each situation but let me know your thoughts. 

Now there are programs out there like the 203k and Portfolio Lenders may have some unique programs...but just sticking to the basics, these are the percentages.Conventional Loan Example:ARV = $150,000Purchase Price: $125,000Cost to Rehab: $10,000Residential Loan Amount (80%of the Purchase Price and not the ARV): $100,000 (Meaning you would need to bring $25,000 to the closing+closing costs+reserves+cost to rehab)Commercial Loan Amount (75% of the Purchase Price and not the ARV): $93,750 (Meaning you would need to bring $31,250 to the closing+closing costs+reserves+cost to rehab)As you can see...the ARV doesn't matter with Conventional Financing unless you are using a 203k or other type of Construction to Perm Loan.Hard Money Lenders will look at the ARV of the property and will typically loan between 65-70%ARV.

At a 10 cap for resale would be 600,000 purchase price from your end buyer. 600,000 - 320,000 = 280,000 gross profit / 12 months = 23,333 a month value gain for the time invested.What you can or cannot do will depend on local, national, or regional bank and if they originated the loan or bought out a failed bank or from a FDIC loss share agreement.

Additionally, influences are unique to particular neighborhoods.Of primary consideration is local influence - all the way down to the acutal individual neighborhood and the people living within the neighborhood.National events do have affects all the way down to the neighborhood.

MA is unique however, and currently has the best energy conservation program in the country.

There are also pockets of good and bad neighborhoods within the different regions, so it's important to either check the neighborhood out yourself, or work with someone who can provide guidance.Adding to what has been said about SE Arlington and Burleson (which I agree with), here are some other areas for you to look into, keeping always in mind that within those areas are pockets that might be good or not so good.Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Watauga, N Fort Worth, Blue Mounds, Saginaw, Azle, White Settlement, Benbrook, Crowley and some parts of SW Fort Worth (outside the loop).Not sure how you are sourcing your deals (it sounds like MLS), but keep in mind there are cheaper ways to buy houses if you are comfortable with doing a rehab (or having it done for you).

There is a decent amount of activity and discussion on bp from this region.  

"From my experience with hundreds of deals on the banks side, most will happily go for lowers SOLID offers in these regions.

When working, you would then get a forum page with a message saying "post #XXX reported", where XXX is some number that is a unique identifier for posts.