Most folks are not accounting for the fact that we may very well lose reserve currency status... all the USD in the world won't fix that problem.

I would want minimum down due to the currency exchange not being very favourable   for us at the moment.

- Which city to consider, assuming a budget of approx $150k, and prioritizing cash flow over capital gains - neighborhoods to begin researching within each city given the aboveGiven the weakness of our local currency, I'm looking for strong cash flow and a smaller unit in a lower price range to start me off while I build up some $ reserves.Thanks very much for your time!

By the way, the US dollar has crushed most other currencies but it's been itself crushed by the Mexican peso.4.

Not sure how currency affects the investment though....something like 50% devaluation of the Yen over the last year or two. 

Nobody knows where currencies are headed (against) the USD.

However, I do plan to do so in order to diversify across political climates and currencies.

I would assume that interest rates are much higher due to higher inflation rates and the currency being less stable. 

I got 15% note rate and then another big move with the currency arbitrage.. although for me lending in BC I did not research it far enough it ended up well as stated.. but once I dug into what happens if they don't pay.. that's when I got a little bit of an ut oh not the US and much tougher.. it was a small number like 100k.. so not the end of the world but still.