Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

I also agree, that income is not a protected class.

Are you looking for steady, low-risk passive income now, or are you comfortable taking on more leverage to scale faster?

I could be wrong.What you tell contractors is: if you do not separate labor from materials, then I have to report my ENTIRE payment, L&M, to the IRS as your income, and then it will be up to you to deduct materials from that income on your end. 

It was only within the last 30 years has the upper middle class incomes start to spread out of the lake.  

On a commercial asset the value is directly based on the NOI (net operating income).

@Alex MessnerIf you're weighing whether to rent or buy with significant student debt, it’s important to consider your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and how it impacts mortgage eligibility.

I think the real estate professional strategy works if it is your primary source of income.   

Britt,My firm has evaluated some smaller properties (under $500k) in the past for cost segregation, and it generally does not cost justify moving forward, since the benefits are small, and typically the tax liability on the income is minimal if any.

Sterling,Each lender is different on how they calculate income and also what overlays they have that can cause a bad income calc.