I do have monthly mortgages to be paid and not having rental income to offset my negative cash flow has been a learning experience and really trying to think of what options I have to have better success at this.

Depending on the loan amount for the new property, roughly a little over half of the gain could be deferred through the exchange.Without a 1031, they’ll face taxes on the entire gain, including federal capital gains tax (likely 15% based on their income), California state tax, and depreciation recapture, potentially totaling $130-150K.

I can get $7000 rental income per month total.

Some questions to consider:1) How much negative cashflow can your other income stream(s) support?

If you spend time learning how to manage well, your income will increase, you'll save time, and you'll maintain your sanity with the courage to expand.

Gifting equity in a house may be more trouble than it is worth if you are not near the life-time exclusion1) Potentially having to get the property appraised everytime an equity is gifted2) Having a title company update the title every time3) Exemption of the gift tax return is normally for cash gifts below the annual gift tax exclusion, you may still need to file if you gift non-cash4) If there is partial ownership over several years, having to properly pro-rate certain items such as real estate taxes, mortgage interest and rental income if the property is a rentalBest of luck 

I’d dig into this a bit more.Another assumption that stood out to me as potentially problematic is the 6% income growth and only 3% expense growth.

@Joe Gellenbeck Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a Class A property in Class D area, what quality of tenant will you get?

My plan for this year is improve my credit, get my real estate license (to increase my income on top of my W-2), possibly career transition into the property management space (to learn more), and save as much as possible and learn as much as I can.I’d love to house hack close to home but my area is so expensive it seems like it’d be close to impossible. 

If they pay late now as is, let's say they lose a job or have a temporary loss of income, you're kind of SOL.I would look to build reserves between now and August.