If you rent to tenants under the Housing Choice Voucher program, formerly called Section 8, which I recommend, the rent you can charge is limited to what the Dept. of Housing and Urban development list in their annual Fair Market Rent study.

That's a curious choice for someone in Portugal.

Success is a process, failure is a choice

A hard money lender might be your last choice of the different lenders for you.

Once you are able to save 20 percent for a down payment if you have a decent credit score, and not too much debt you can purchase your first rental(if that's your choice to get started) and start from there.

Depending on your choice, your due diligence and property evaluation will be completely different.Karlton

And in the meantime, here's a virtual coupon for a tasty fresh Deschutes beverage of your choice.  

@John HessellI've believed for years that Newark is a sleeping giant.

Otherwise, you might not NOW have the choice to either borrow or not borrow!

Your situation and choices will be different than theirs most likely and you'll be trading a more actively managed investment style and the work implicit to this style for a better quality of living during the accumulation phase and less flexibility during "retirement" or financial independence.