Case Study: How a Canadian Investor Bought a U.S. Rental Property With a Foreign National DSCR Loan

Ronald and his wife were actively investing in real estate in Canada, building a legacy portfolio to eventually pass on to their children. The problem was that the numbers had stopped working at home.

"These days in Canada, good luck finding a property that cash flows. I was really struggling. It was all negatives. I always had to pitch in with my own income just to make sure it stays afloat."

He kept looking across the country and kept coming up short, so he started to consider investing across the border in the United States instead.

"There were not a lot of great options out here, so I thought, why not consider the U.S.? That was why I reached out."

His biggest bottleneck was finding accurate information on investment structuring, financing, and taxes, and finding competent people to work with who weren't simply selling a course.

"A lot of these programs sell it like a course, some kind of training, and they are not really helping you. The way they make money is through the program. I wasn't looking for that. I was looking for real stuff: get in, let's start investing, let's start making money right from day one."

Ronald attended one of our webinars, "U.S. Real Estate Financing for Foreign Investors", and afterwards booked a 1-to-1 strategy call with David at Cashflow Rentals.

Ronald was specifically looking for relatively low-maintenance properties with consistent, reliable cash flow and long-term growth potential. That was the opposite of the negative-geared portfolio he was managing back home.

Before we found the property, a big part of the work was getting his U.S. entity and structure set up correctly. This is something many Canadians assume they have to solve alone, and pay heavily for.

"I thought that was something I would have to figure out for myself, but you had partners doing it for me. In the past, the cross-border accountants I reached out to charged so much, and we were able to do it at a fraction of that cost."

With the structure in place, we sourced a renovated, tenant-occupied single family home in Kansas City, MO, listed at $179,000.

The house had been renovated to a high standard, with a quality kitchen and bathrooms and a full interior and exterior remodel. Crucially, all the major systems had already been replaced, including the roof, furnace, HVAC, plumbing and electrics.

There was a long-term tenant already living in the property, with professional local property management in place, so the house was delivering positive cash flow from day one.

Our team coordinated a thorough due diligence process, including multiple home inspections, subsequent repairs, and an appraisal. That appraisal came in at $163,000, and we used it to renegotiate with the seller.

We secured a final purchase price of $163,000, which was $16,000 below the asking price. That lowered Ronald's entry cost and lifted his cash flow.

Working with our specialist lending partner, Ronald secured a 70% LTV foreign national Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) loan, with no U.S. credit or proof of income required. The financing was the stickiest part of the process, mostly around proving the source of his down payment funds.

"Dealing with U.S. lenders coming in from outside is very different. First I had to create a bank account, which you helped me with. Then when I moved the funds, it triggered the anti-money-laundering rules, and I had to prove exactly where it came from. It was a learning process, but your partners kept reassuring me, and I knew the next one would be even better."

Ronald closed on his property in November 2025. He and his wife actually chose to drive to the U.S. to sign their closing documents in person with a notary, because the lender offered an interest rate reduction for signing on U.S. soil. A remote online notary closing was available, but the rate discount made the trip worthwhile.

There were some early challenges with the property manager, which our property management oversight team stepped in to resolve.

"We had some challenges with the property managers in the beginning. But we changed that, and now we have proactive property managers. I'm looking forward to continuing as it is."

Through the transition, rent collection stayed at 100%, and costs have been in line with expectations, as all maintenance-related repairs so far have been covered by the contractor's warranty. On current trajectory, the property will generate over $20,000 in gross rents in the first 12 months.

Net cash flow for the year after all operating expenses and debt service will be around $6,500, equating to a cash-on-cash return of 11.5%. Just as importantly, it runs itself.

"It's actually performed better because, thanks to the appraisal, we got in at a lower price, and that meant our cash flow was higher. It's night and day compared with what I have in Canada. That one is still negative, I always have to chip in. This one, I don't even have to look at it. Every month I check the account and it's going up."