It will be cheaper than our mortgage and our incomes will be increasing.

For me personally, our STR and our little inn provide more than half my family's income so I feel I have a fiduciary duty to my wife and kids to maximize that. 

(Especially a 2-4 unit.)Do they have friends/relatives/co-workers that would rent rooms from them if they bought a property to show more income?

I needed to find a passive real estate income stream that would work within the IRS’ self-directed IRA (SDIRA) rules.

Who knows, when you get down here you may be happy you have some extra income coming in. 

Plus, I was not receiving interest income for about 3 years of the 5 year note. 

One other thing that people in their 60s can consider is - if you are planning on taking Social Security and making passive income part of what you live on, rental income may not count as income against your Social Security benefits.

First, banks do not prefer W2 income over 1099 income at all.

Yes @Akash Sky that is considered ordinary income

If investing in real estate was easy, everyone would have passive income.