I'd greatly appreciate any advice and more than happy to share additional information if needed. 

The process must be understood and applied to team building, investing your and 3rd party capital, and financial deal structure with debt and equity sources. 

Creating a catalogue of info and answers for the general benefit of those in the future in addition to the poster.

From a credit perspective, house hacking also helps you build strong cash flow, which can make it easier to secure financing for future deals.Additionally, if you're targeting high-appreciation markets, you could also look into cash-out refinancing down the line to pull equity and fund additional investments.

Thank you for the additional info.

I will investigate TCS to see if I can add it to my funding arsenal.

.- Additionally, you can track income and expenses consistently using software or spreadsheets.If you track everything, you could show a loss and use that to offset other earned income (such as a W2) which will net you a bigger refund.

@Chris Kay beleive you can do DSR loans without a job as they qualify the property, not the borrower.You'd still need 20-25% down though.That's where you have a decision:- Pay down the mortgage, setting yourself up for a future refinance to free up your VA Entitlement.OR- Save up for your next acquisition.Only YOU can make that decision as you have to be comfortable with the increasing debt-load risk and the additional time to manage everything.

Hey Jason - if it's a 1-4 unit, you would need to value it based off the sales comp approach (assuming the buyer is using debt financing).

Wanted to revive this post and check to see if anyone else has additional information or input on rental in Cahokia, IL / Cahokia Heights, IL . . .