We saw huge appreciation in the 2018-2022 inflation run up, but that has significantly slowed these days in my opinion.From a rental perspective your monthly income per unit after all expenses with a typical 20% down payment is likely $100-300 when you find a property that will cash flow.

Yes @Akash Sky that is considered ordinary income

Here are a few tips to help you get started:Financing: Since you’ll be starting your internship soon, lenders may look at your projected income or require a co-signer until you have a longer work history.

From experience, I’d recommend getting pre-approved, improving your debt-to-income ratio if needed, and researching local assistance programs.

My endgame is to end up with $300k/yr in post-mortgage income in 20 years based on investments I make now followed by continued investments over the next 10-15 years own.

Secondly, the homeowner would need to cooperate as she would need to submit a bunch of paperwork including income statements, tax returns, etc. for the Short Sale application to show that she is insolvent.  

It will be cheaper than our mortgage and our incomes will be increasing.

If I can park the 388k ($415-27k) for one year at CD rate of 4.5% and then est 300k (after paying cap gain/depr recap) at 3.0% (assume CD rates lower) that interest income of about 24 months net of ordinary income tax is about the same as my current mortgage.Trying to play devil's advocate and think why selling this year does not make sense. 

If you continue filing taxes jointly the income you realize from your separate property will still need to be explained and redacted, regardless of the type of entity holding the real estate.

If they pass all of the checks and have the proper income then they have a shot at moving in.