Tax-wise, profits are taxed at your ordinary income rate, and frequent flips may subject you to self-employment tax if classified as a dealer by the IRS.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------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?

When I ask for an income report, I received a spreadsheet with multiple units. 

Identify the need that you can deliver on.Grow: you, your income and opportunities will increase as you continue to do the above.Biggerpocket podcast is a good launch point.

This is especially helpful since your goal is to replace your income and invest full-time.Market Timing: Bend, OR, has seen strong appreciation, but if you believe the market is peaking or stabilizing, now might be a strategic time to cash out.Cons:Losing the Low-Interest Loan: Your 3.1% rate is a huge advantage in today’s environment.

The loss created by section 179 is limited to your total net taxable income amount from all "active" business income you have, plus any W-2 income. 

The higher credit, higher income, gainfully employed S8 tenants are choosy about where they live and do not want to live in a bad, high crime area.By buying in an area that appeals to high quality S8 tenants, the arbitrage that you might see between S8 being higher than market might disappear.So that being said, it’s more important to lead by location than strategy.Happy to talk further if you like.  

See what qualifications people are looking for and do what you have to in the meantime to produce income while you're studying. 

We will both keep our W2 employment for the near future just looking into getting an extra income or make our retirement easier.

Quote from @Raghavendra Jakkani: The tenant should provide proof of income that doesn't require detective work.