I am bumping into more and more people that I consider fairly high achievers that seem to have someone coaching them to do better as well.

Some strategies to get around are:1. leverage your current portfolio and buy in cash, increase value, and then refi2. buy Multi-family so your ratios aren't the main factor to lenders3. get in with a lender for high net worth individuals4.

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. 

High performers everywhere swear by it.

that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:Class A Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.Class B Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 yearsClass C Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation.

So, start saving now while you are in High School. 

Inventory is high.

If you’re interested in investing in real estate, you can consider doing so with a Self-Directed IRA to defer taxes on capital gains until you actually withdraw the funds from your IRA.

Granted this primarily filters out the small deals or the highly leveraged deals, neither of which I do, but making 20% on a ARV 150k house is $30k. 

If you get in with a locked in company that's in it for the long haul, your success and being taken care of are gonna be pretty high.