If you are interested in doing a co-op, PM me and we can chat.  

OP you don’t have to get the heloc from your mortgage holder.

To the OP: @Joe Brisindi JV brings up a good point, you answered your question in your post.

OP,Try a mom and pop operation.

I’m considering putting in coin-op laundry units in the basement and wondering who pays for the water and electricity?

If you are looking in Texas, hire a Texas professional.MarkMark,However, your average Tejas attorney, and a good many of your NY attorneys are not going to be sufficiently current on Canadian {tax} law to be able to properly advise the OP on the best way to hold his U.S.A. investments as a Canadian.  

@Leon D.Neither of us are lawyers, so obviously OP should take both of us with a grain of salt. :)"It sounds great, but what happens when a civilian single mom of two applies for an apartment and gets turned down?"

You would need an LTV of 75%.Hey Jerry if I understand correctly that means that the OP could have potentially purchased the four homes through a hard money lender and then immediately completed a "rate and term refinance" in order to convert it to a conventional loan?

You can't find properties in Inglewood or Hawthorne with this much room to increase rents.Why am I even answering these questions since the OP's heading states that he is a specialist.

I suspect the west coastal cities (San Fran, San Jose, LA, OC, Santa Barbara, San Diego) would be near the top of the list for cash flow over the longer holding period.The OP wants to try OOS.