Here's some basic copy & paste info that may help you make better investing decisions:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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 property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Since you mention this is your first deal, what other assets do you own that you are trying to protect?

Has anything changed in your knowledge and assets so far.I’ll DM you my number to discuss if you have sometime that’d be great.

Quote from @Anthony Stephens: It sounds interesting but my concern is that this would be an unsecured loan to someone who may not be in a good financial position.

It might cause me financial harm as I have to sell more stocks and might pay short term capital gains vs long term capital gains.

A FHA 203k Loan is where the purchase price and rehab costs are rolled into a single loan.The downside of using FHA or a FHA 203k is you will need to live there, for a minimum of one year (to satisfy FHA Requirements); AND because you closed personally, you will not have Asset Protection, in the form of closing in the name of a LLC.

My goal is to have financial freedom so I can eventually quit my 9-5 job and use my time to spend with family and do things that excite me.

Your taxes are none of the ex wife's business and this would seem to address your concerns.I would also put her on notice that future requests for financial discovery will be two-way and if a discrepancy is seen in the other direction you will seek support from her.

Buy and holding is the best way to building financial freedom.

Have you looked into other commercial real estate asset classes like triple net leases?