Building equity is a gamble. 

Last April, when I had the idea to buy a condo in Manila, I began to check the market, also luckily I went to visit this country last July,2017, I had a good impression on this country, first, English is widely used and spoken, so no any language barrier, even I'm Chinese, I can speak fluent English, so I like this place; second, manila is developing very fast and rental fee is high compared with other countries, I have invested two condos in Thailand in the past, now the price is a little up, so I prefer to invest one in Manila; third, zero downpayment, so really convenient and good news for me, because I'm still paying for Pattaya condo, so I just paid 20000pesos for reservations, then assigned the contract and began to pay the first downpayment 30% of the total monthly, is only about 19000 pesos monthly, finally the price in Manila is still low compared to other countries, esp compared to cities in china, so once I made a decision, I took an action, I believe my choice is a good one, can we discuss here if u have some more advice?

Or is he/she taking the same risk as me and taking a gamble on whether or not it will work out?

BUT the fact is people who don't do any homework are speculating and gambling and often motivated by laziness and greed.

There's several chapters around the metro which makes it convenient. 

Probably the last time in your life that it will be convenient to use this method.

If you want to gamble on appreciation, I would say buy a property in Boston.

DC market is an appreciation play, and while I know everyone won't agree that is just a gamble, almost everyone I know that bought in DC have enjoyed their property values, many, many, many years later.

Yes, if he is asking for convenience, then you are totally fine with asking for more deposit.

If you want speed, ease, and convenience, go with a DSCR loan now.