This year is slower than normal because mortgage rates and home prices are so high.

I highly recommend the book real estate by the numbers.

I'm starting to acquire furnishings and am looking for a checklist of sorts to help keep myself organized as I seek the best deals on high quality goods to furnish our rental. 

It sounds good in theory, but in practice is highly unlikely.  

The stock market, gold, Bitcoin, and most real estate are all at all-time highs.

Traditional deals often don’t excite investors—offering $200/month in cash flow isn’t very compelling.But with co-living, you can offer 5X the returns, making it much easier to secure funding.Now, instead of asking an investor to put up a 20% down payment for $200/month cash flow, you can pitch them a 5% down investment yielding $1,000+/month—a much more attractive deal.Why Co-Living is the FutureCo-living isn’t just another strategy—it’s a high-demand, high-cash-flow, lower-risk investment model that aligns with today’s rental market trends.

Your income isn't high enough for it to make sense as a rental and the closer you get to your residence limit the greater pressure you will have to sell it before losing your exclusion in whole or part. 500k right now can make $15k per year income with zero maintenance or tenant risks. 

The rate will also be high. 

This is also why the amount of cash you need is 40% of the loan amount - the closing costs are disproportionately high compared to the loan amount because it's a small loan. 

Some hard money lenders lend at pretty high LTVs, leaving little equity buffer to protect your principal.