Hi all, quick back story, I've started the process to potentially medically seperate from my current profession. This would leave me with monthly tax free income equal to what I'm currently taking home. It would also provide a large one time tax free check.

In addition, I can start a new career and make up to 80k before taking a penalty on my benefit and no income cap for my wife.

This puts me in a unique situation. With income and medical being covered I don't necessarily need to find another job right away and can focus on properties.

I live in Minneapolis/St Paul metro which is near (within 2 hours of 10+) several universities. I also am close to hundreds of lakes, which means cabins/lake rentals.

Is there a beginners guide to starting out? I guess I'd like some guidance on if it makes sense to start buying college houses, duplexes or homes in the city or focus on lake rentals.

The issue I see with the lake rentals is only being able to rent them 5ish months out of the year. Talking to a few co-workers that invest this way they all say capital for down payments is the biggest hurdle. I would be able to cover the 20% on two properties (200k ish range) with a decent amount left over.

Having a steady income already this would be more of a side gig, not really looking to scale, but it would be nice to have income up to/around that 80k a year mark.

Appreciate any/all help.