With the deal structure this was you get:$ in stocks - providing--Div, Appreciation, Cap Gains leveraged to gain House with Equity capture, Cash flow (think house hack), principal pay down, appreciation, depreciation and write-offs and whatever the value of learning to earn is....  

You can do this by you gaining that information yourself, bringing a contractor, etc.

How much capital gain do you have in the rented house?

@Russell Brazil I did live in it, but not for 2 years unfortunately  Might have a break through here... you don't need to have lived in the unit 2 years. 2 years is to get the maximum limit of capital gains ($500k).

But why not try earlier and start gaining some income outside of our W2! 

Building relationships with real estate agents and joining social media groups can also help you find opportunities and gain insights.

You also have more financing options due to being the owner occupant plus the option to sell after 2 years with a tax free gain if you are going the live in flip route.

If it is a non-Roth, everything eventually comes out at ordinary income rates, including appreciation which would otherwise be treated under capital gain rules.

However if this is an appreciating market, although your monthly cash flow might be neutral or negative, you may over time actually have what we consider phantom cash flow, which is gained through appreciation and tax benefits. in most cases, if you need true “cash flow” use the simple one percent rule.

And 25% of the gain is cut as a check directly to the two of you.