I started thinking I should refinance my coop with today's low rates  and take about $100k cash out at 3.50 % interest rate. 

Here is the problem - up to this point, the owners have been taking responsibility of repairs, maintenance, etc of the interior of their units and the HOA was responsible for the common areas.  

(as for California and New york it seems)Our goal is to invest on rental properties (we can't flip from France) with very low expenses in a safe area.

On the other side, you could have a new build that owner pays no utilities there are no major maintenance issues because the building is brand new and operating expenses ratio could be 30-40%. 

However, they will calculate a new DTI (debit to income ratio) based on the new monthly payments from your cash out refi or HELOC loan.Some quick pros and cons about Cash out Refi vsHELOCCash out Pros-tax free money-low interest rate-no monthly payments Cash out Cons-closing costs (couple thousand)HELOC Pros-tax free -its a line of credit, hence you can use pay back then use again-usually NO closing costsHeloc Cons-higher interest rate-have to make monthly payments on money borrowedHope this helps,CB

Below are some quick tips about cash out refi vs HELOC/LOCCash out Pros-tax free money-low interest rate-fixed monthly payments unless you choose a variable productCash out Cons-closing costs (couple thousand)HELOC/LOC Pros-tax free -its a line of credit, hence you can use pay back then use again-usually NO closing costs on residential Helocs; there will be closing costs on commericial LOCs-commericial LOC is very fast moving as far as getting funding and refinancing  (Makes it easy to rinse and repeat)HELOC/LOC Cons-higher interest rate-variable rates-monthly payments depend on amount borrowedHope this helps,CB

You can get in with a low down payment and good terms by living in the property.  

--Noticed that many communities have HOA restrictions, mostly for road maintenance...but several restrict weekly rentals as well.  

Though the city needs a lot of work in terms of crime and school, there aren't too many small/mid size cities with the arts, food, nightlife, access to suburbs, lakes, wine region, etc. that Rochester has while having extremely low taxes. 

Both have great rental histories, are located in very good neighborhoods and very low vacancy.