I agree that there are limited choices to learn. best to meet local investors.Chad is awesome, I follow his stuff on YouTube, how much of his Canadian experience is applicable to US?

Traditional lending at 80% with 20% cash down.

Traditional financing.

For hands off if you want a more traditional broker than Vanguard or for a modern one M1 Finance.

What funding method besides traditional mortgage makes since when buying a rental that needs improvement but there are no comps and the values haven’t been increasing much.

Clermont, Winter Garden and even Apopka would be good choices for building appreciation and still have a good commute.Your budget may determine what areas are going to be attractive enough, but the rental market is always strong here, so I wouldn't put too much weight on that for now since you plan to live in it for a couple years first.Always happy to chat, just message me and we can set something up and see how we can help you plan or take action now!

I purchased a property in Southern CA I plan house hack.So the obvious choice is to seal off the walls and just create a "studio."

So many choices I need some input.I want to do something orange or copper in color and canopy style or metal.

And these partners will have a lot more experience and connections when it comes to traditional/ hard money lenders.

I personally give tenants that choice, many landlords do not.