So lets say you own a home with $100k in equity but have zero income.

However, aside from that, I couldn’t find much information about them, and the only online presence seems to be the wife’s LinkedIn profile (though I’ve never met her in person and am just going off her profile picture on Zillow).After submitting the application through Zillow, we attached our income (two months of pay stubs for each of us from our current jobs), work references, credit and criminal background, rental history, and the contact info for our current landlord (who just so happens to be my fiancé’s father).

Locally my observation is that the need is more for low income young and working vs college student.

My recommendation would be different if you were a high-income earner or if you wanted steady equity growth.

I don't have any income yet as I am just graduating.

Renting part of the home after conversion provides additional income and deductions.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

Due to the university there I worked with a lot of incoming families and getting what they needed for their dorms.  

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. 

Analyze properties by looking at gross rental income, operating expenses, and the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR above 1.25 for rentals).

I think I was fortunate to find a roll outside of real estate to diversify my income across two different sectors of the economy.