Make sure it’s updated though as the IRS will ask for it to be produced quickly.

Real estate takes time and scale to produce reliable cash flow.

Do you believe it will now be more cost effective to hold a license or do you believe the expenses will go up with what I assume will be a flight from the business by low producing real estate agents? 

Right now you may see them as less than suitable for partnering with, Maybe rethinking your own position about making money with them might produce a profit.

Human nature is fallible and any business that exists out there is run by humans.

You mentioned that you are not a W-2, but that is not the only status of income producing individuals. 

Hard to produce cash flow or break even with that much debt, at that rate.House-hackers, however enjoy certain one time (non-scalable) advantages that should be taken advantage of in the early days: - They can assume pre-existing debt like VA and FHA Loans (rather than take it on Subject-To which is dramatically riskier).- They can rent by the room and self-manage to produce day 1 cash flow.- Many of these HCOL areas also have strict limitations on AirBnB or short-term rentals... that do not apply to owner-occupants - thus allowing for extreme cashflow potential for house-hackers.

Just remember that real estate investing is a long game and can take time to produce fruit. 

Let me explain...Houses naturally have an aesthetic to them when they are first built.

Why would one choose value adds that produce lower returns than can be achieved in other markets?