When you refinance, you’re essentially borrowing against the value you've built up in the property, rather than realizing any taxable income.

Also, I'm looking for something to keep me busy as I ease into my retirement.You are trying to hack the primary residence part to reduce taxes and if you really can do it and you really live there then it will be fair, but if you deviate at all, the town will come for you and you will never get anything renovated if they think you aren't living there and it's not liveable.

You’ve already built a solid foundation with podcasts and resources like The House Hacking Strategy.

If you're in one of the Primo in-town neighborhoods your rent floor should be higher.Compared to short term rental - your gross rents will be lower, but that comes with lower headache. 

NYC and the Bronx and Queens and Brooklyn are generally impossible wholesale areas anyway, but if you add in that you are an out-of-town student alleging to buy people's houses, NYers will eat you alive.

All brick, built in 1920.

Their concept is not new and has been around for ages with people renting rooms in college towns and more expensive markets (NYC, LA) however this is a centralized more hands off management approach to self managing by letting them do all the heavy lifting for you which allows you to scale in less time so yes the concept definitely works and even better with their technology behind it.

Purchase price: $186,000 Cash invested: $46,500 Home was built in 2018 as a long term Section 8 rental unit.

It also comes down to what kind of market you are in-- what do guests who come to town want? 

I have an opportunity to buy a property in tennessee that has 25 self storage units AND allows for 25 more to be built.