Good luck getting started - let me know if I can be any help.

I started and did it differently.

The last thing you want to do is go through formal sale since you’ll lose the Prop 13 tax basis, which is likely a $20k/yr saving.

What started off as primarily a second home with the possibility of short term leasing quickly flipped to a STR first and a second home when not rented because demand is so strong right now for STR's in this area. 

They lady started almost yelling "If you have your bank investigate we will send them the screen shots we sent you".

That said, even with conservative rental income estimates, my living expenses would eventually drop to several hundred dollars less than what I’m currently paying in rent once the house hack starts generating income.I do have cash reserves to weather some rough patches, but the idea of pushing my budget this hard makes me uneasy.

BiggerPockets and Facebook groups can also be great for networking.Feel free to reach out if you’d like help connecting with agents or investors in Illinois or Wisconsin (Have some amazing referral partners)—I’d be happy to lend a hand or share resources to get you started.

Talking with my partner, we started to talk think through worst case scenarios & options we’d have if it doesn’t get rented in several months. 

Quote from @Jerryll Noorden: Quote from @Jon LaBorde: I’m a few days away from starting my first marketing campaign and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how many leads I need in order to get a wholesale deal, my first month I’m starting with SMS and cold calling and I’d like to reach about 10,000 people and I’m nervous that I should be trying to reach more.

It's going to be tough to buy a property without steady W2 income.  8k is a good start, but you might need to keep saving.