Owner occupied united increased by 8.4%"Still, although the overall share of households that rented decreased, the number of rented units increased by over a million units (43.3 million to 44.6 million)."

The only two ways to rectify this are (1) purchase the property far below market price or (2) significantly increase the property net income usually through some method of “repositioning”. 

If you have extra cash at the end of the month, then do double up payments on the mortgages so the principle is reduced and this will increase your heloc room.

My plan for this year is improve my credit, get my real estate license (to increase my income on top of my W-2), possibly career transition into the property management space (to learn more), and save as much as possible and learn as much as I can.I’d love to house hack close to home but my area is so expensive it seems like it’d be close to impossible. 

And since you are licensed, you can potentially do some sales on the side to increase income and save up for investing.

I think we have enough software in the STR world lolWhat if we made a guide to increase occupancy rates that centers around marketing, guest experience, and ways to stand out in saturated markets that isn't simply "buy more amenities"?  

But once I got the bills, I increased the rent with the tenant's approval and signed an addendum to the lease stating the rent increase would be X and the owner would take over utilities.

Atlanta is a strong multi-family market with a diverse economy, a growing population, and increasing demand for rental properties.

You can add different ways to reach out to improve your conversion for owners you are hitting or you can increase the amount you are sending. 

Here’s a streamlined perspective:Your current approach, putting more down upfront, minimizes risk, increases cash flow faster, and allows you to build equity while reducing overall interest.