This concept is why the often cited "Adverse Possession" concept exists where if someone uses property openly without permission they can eventually file to take ownership because the previous owner wasn't protecting their rights to it. 

Once you commit to a cost segregation study to the 7 unit property then you will no longer to cost seg again.

The people who thrive in it are the ones who either genuinely enjoy the hands‑on work and control, or who are honest about their limits and smart enough to outsource when the stress and time commitment start to outweigh the savings.

Talk with a CPA if it actually makes sense for your situation because of the time and financial commitment of buying a STR can be greater than the tax savings.

Power exists.

Cross-check your ARV with real comps before committing - I use a mix of Redfin and tools like PropLab that auto-pull adjusted comps to sanity check my manual analysisKeep building - the best investors I know all started with their own spreadsheets before using any tools.

Show commitment, and experienced investors will take notice.

The existing mortgage is still in my personal name, which I’m not thrilled about in the long term. 

Start with your existing ecosystemYour management portfolio is a major asset.

You’re not crazy — what you’re being quoted is very common for non-citizen / visa-holder borrowers at the hard money level.A few realities of the current market:Many hard money lenders are balance-sheet driven and simply won’t take visa risk, regardless of experience.The ones that do lend to non-citizens usually offset that risk with:Higher cash in (25–30%)Lower leverage (65–70% ARV)Extra fees (underwriting / legal / compliance)That said — those are “default” terms, not always the best terms.Where I’ve seen better outcomes for investors like you:Strong existing portfolio + documented exitsClean entity structure (US LLC with operating history)Deal-by-deal underwriting vs blanket borrower rulesShort rehab timelines with conservative ARVsIn the right structure, I’ve seen visa holders do higher leverage and cleaner fee stacks, but it’s very case-specific.Happy to take a quick look at one of your deals and tell you straight whether the terms you’re seeing are market-accurate or just lazy lending.