Financially my full-time job is our main income as a family.Job is demanding.

Look into factors like vacancy rates, local job growth, and tenant demand to pinpoint promising markets.Once you find a property, work on running the numbers carefully—factor in purchase price, rehab costs (if applicable), property management fees, and reserves.

There used to be some landlord seminars for Dallas Housing Authority ever so often, so that might be a good place to ask if they are still doing those.One thing to think about is if Section8 might be subject to the DOGE cuts?

Borrower Types: The Professional - HM Lender will cut sweet-heart deals to keep these borrowers around Experienced real estate investors Regularly engage in property transactions Typically have a track record of successful projects The Newbie - Charge Higher everything as the risk is higher as no experience Novice investors or first-time borrowers Limited experience in real estate Seeking to build their investment portfolio The Deadbeat - Only lend if the deal is so SWEET, they can't lose if they take the property from the Borrower Borrowers with poor credit history or financial difficulties High-risk borrowers May struggle to secure traditional financingThe lender will do an application on the deal/borrower and some standard docs they require are:Hard Money Application / ExperiencePurchase contractARV report – COMPS – See * Redfin*Pictures of Property – most people use Dropbox to shareProof of Funds – Down / Reserves (Bank Statements)Personal identification (ID or passport)But usually if the deal is sweet enough, they will do it anyway because if the deal goes south, there is so much equity/value in the property that the HM lender can't lose.

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.

Nice job acquiring the first deal.

You will require many properties to completely replace your income, which could become a new full-time job to manage.

The most likely scenario is that his renters will eventually do something that costs him a significant loss, despite cutting them a major break for so long. 

Considering some SFR properties in Cahokia / Cahokia Heights, Illinois and looking for some recommendations on inpsectors in this area that do a good job looking at multiple properties

The halving cuts mining reward, supply for the same amount of work essentially.