Quote from @Daniel Huang: Hi, I am trying to transition to develop my rental income as I am in the final years of my professional career.  

If you have some capital, income, and decent credit, buy a 4-5 bedroom house and rent bedrooms. 

So, if you have 10 units and you are going to pay $1,500 a month and you are working on an active income job, too, this is an easy switch due to the labor mentally and physically (even if it is just phone calls) to get these rentals running as a well-oiled machine.  

@Yael DoronIf you're working with a $150,000 budget and aiming for high ROI through rental income, consider nearby areas around Phoenix that still offer affordability and growth potential.

My idea is to put 20% down on a $1 million property, with the remaining $800,000 paid off over 8–10 years, depending on how much yearly income the seller would want.I’ve seen a lot of discussions about using seller financing for investment properties, but not much when it comes to primary residences.

There are plenty of banks across the US that also have a stated income heloc (in the Carolinas, First Citizens will do up to $100k with no income verification). 

The absolute best way to avoid taxes is not earn income.  

Lender does not look at your income, just your FICO and they want to see rental income.

My concern with declining values, increased inventory and a weaker economy would lower rental income and could potentially put me into a negative cash flow situation.

Start to evaluate deals based on the income approach and you'll do much better long term investing.