@Jimmy Moncrief lends in Chattanooga for sure and they have branches in Nashville as well so I'm sure he can help them there too. 

As a fellow Canadian who has invested in the US, I'd say your first hurdle will be to find a lender that will lend to you cross border.You can try the big Canadian banks with US branches but from my experience they only seem to lend for vacation properties in certain states (Florida should be easy peasy for such a property with the amount of snowbirds out there).I haven't found any lenders who would finance an investment property held by a Canadian that lives in Canada (they will lend to you if you're a Canadian living in the US).Also not all insurance companies will want to cover your investment property as a Canadian without any residence in the states.

The whitefish chain of lakes is great for so many things year round.I have heard from family from the north shore of Lake Superior that STR's have driven up the prices of homes to the point that the locals have been priced out of their own market and are not too happy about it.

Or do you have to wait until it’s time for you to move on and branch out for yourself?

Once you get some footing established in wither house hacking, sweat equity with partners, or both, then you can branch off and build your own portfolio or continue to grow with others.There are a million ways to go about growing, so just keep learning and soon begin to take action. 

There are branches that overhang the house2.

Unfortunately, with labor shortages, supply chain issues, material inflation, now is not the time to build! 

What supplies need to be ordered immediately due to supply chain disruptions?

I want to branch out to the burbs.

Today I had a tenant want me to install a chain at the back door so that I couldn't get in.