It pencils to about 9% COC, before the paper losses, and obviously, he needs to store cash. 

THis is the only time I'll say attorneys are worth their weight in gold, lol.  

Don't count on appreciation in the next few years to cover your month to month losses.

The alternative is a 17k loss.

That's almost a 13% average annual loss! 

@Ann Bellamy a default for a HML in the scenario you describe would lead to a huge loss for them.now as you state maybe a unicorn.. or someone who is totally ignorant... non recourse is 40 to 50% down.You can try dohardmoney.com  they charge up front 3 to 5k with no guarantee of funding.. and with very mixed reviews  some say they got loans.. others have blown 5k and never got funded.. if you want to give up equity this could happen ... you can put 10% down with Gorilla in Eugene but they will want PG and they will want significant upside.so you cant have it both ways  lowest rates HIGHEST risk.... unless of course you simply use your own money then

Erik Johnson Be sure when you interview a CPA ask about the passive activity rules, real estate professional rules, will you need to group future rentals together, can you deduct any losses each year, how does depreciation work and should you get a cost segregation study or asset management report done, which repairs can you write off vs capitalize, how will gain or loss be treated when you dispose of the property, how are the loan costs treated.....if they don't have a good feel for all of this move on to the next.

A few additional months of sitting around could be the difference between a profit and a loss in that case.

I take a loss annually on a rental property due to depreciation, so it looks like I have no earnings. 

The income loss & stress someone like this can cause is not worth it.