This video below doesn't cover every aspect, but it talks about some of the core attributes you'll want to consider when getting started...

There's an overwhelming majority here who have given compelling reasons to wait until they leave to show the house.

(Investor A) makes a profit of $20,000 from their $308k investment.The winner of the 1st mtg auction (Investor B) now has title to a house worth $650k that they paid $355k.As long as the high bid on the first maintains an acceptable overbid for the strategy, (if I was Investor A, I would make sure I bid the price up on the 1st mtg auction).Hypothetically, if I were a resourceful investor & I could get to the homeowner directly I could propose a few compelling ideas:1) Offer owner to bring loans current, stop the foreclosure, buy time to flip it "as is" or fix-it up for retail pricing & split a percentage of the $405k gross equity.2) Give owner cash now for title & rights of redemption so they don't have to wait for the overbid check which could take a long time.

But at the core of it all, you are looking for the best return for the amount of risk that you are willing to tolerate.

However, if you must go for a condo then I would recommend to buy one in Toronto - downtown core.

There would need to be some compelling tax reason to shift $500k in debt over to higher interest rate loans, I think.Other than that, there are some philosophical/cultural/preferential reasons why some people just want their primary residence paid off.

Bill Gulley Yeah, I've learned my lesson on getting a 15yr vs. 30 yr (unless there's some very specific and compelling reason to).

We installed interior solid core flush doors instead of hollow core doors, after having 2 places have damaged doors in one year. 

That means either your rent to value ratios (RV ratio) are not high enough in your specific market or you're not buying the "property right," or getting a good enough deal.As an example, in seattle core market even if you get a deal at 60-70% of ARV you will still barely cash flow and or will lose money if you try to refinance and recoop all your "costs," back because the rent to value ratio  is too low here.

New construction in the core of the city is almost exclusively focused on Class A luxury units.