I'm sure since you are on BiggerPockets you know that the value of the property is a function of it's cash flow, but a traditional lender will typically lend at 75% of the appraised value which is typically based on the income approach (ie the cash flow) so you'll likely need to save 25% of the value.

It's traditionally a fairly poor working class neighbourhood with many immigrants, but in the recent years, more tourists have acquired property here - due to the location mentioned above and an increase in house-flipping happening here.There are many opportunities for making good RE investments in Barcelona, but if you're looking for a cheap "buy and hold" investment, there might be better cities to place your money.

Flippers often do this when they stumble upon a house juuuuuuuuuuust good enough for traditional financing.

So what's the extra risk in my doing a refi to get my cash back vs a traditional loan where that same cash just isn't used?)

I'm aggressively saving money with my wife (her portion goes to traditional investments) whereas mine will be for real estate investing.  

Thanks for that idea.My first thoughts on this was to make my pitch appear as much like a traditional LT tenant to the property owner - just to tamp down the dissonance.

@Matt Bailey,It all depends on your goal and strategy... if you're doing a traditional investment property, banks will want to see 20% down, and 6-months of reserves (including the new mortgage) available.       

Thanks, @Matt Motil - I am actually getting increasingly disheartened about using traditional buy and hold to accomplish my goals. 

New owner).I'm still waiting on my offer to be accepted but before placing an offer, my due diligence was to make sure I had a contingency in place since there are things like ground rent in my area hat I have to also consider as well as an astringent City Code/Housing office that notoriously places liens that don't show up right away.Not sure if this is helpful for you on this current transaction but it may be helpful to spend the few extra hundred dollars for the enhanced title insurance when purchasing in all cash or on non-traditional (I.e REOs//estate/divorce) properties.

I note similar town-homes with traditional tenants rent for $1,200 in the area.The Third property is next-door to the first, and the details are the same.