You could also qualify if you spend more time on the property than anyone else involved, regardless of hitting 100 hours.Ex. managing contractors, handling bookings, setting up the property, or dealing with guest communications, you might meet the material participation requirement without needing to track 100 hours.The key is to document everything.

How many hours do you spend managing the property vs. others, etc?

Think of it this way…you take on a flip, you spend 2 months on renovations, 1 month on market, 1 month under contract.

The would mean you are now spending $400/mo on your housing cutting your monthly expenses by $600 or adding $600 to your income each month not to mention tax benefits and appreciation.I think once you have a house hack, you look into buying a value-add property and BRRRRing it.

@Mae Dungo I personally think that spending almost $20k is an exorbitant amount of money for a mentor.

Since you have mentioned cash flow is a big part of your goals - have you thought about private lending?

Families were still staying in hotels, not aware that for around the same price, they could be in a private home with a pool. 

So the effect is a confiscation of private property and a transfer of the property for no cost from the landlord to the tenant. 

And half of American renter households spend at least 30% of their income on housing, which is up sharply since 2000, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Clearly these are just example numbers, but it is how I would look at it.And then layer in if refinishing all the 1 beds is a $100k renovation, but converting into a 4 units is a $150k renovation, now you are spending more money to create less revenue AND have a property worth less at the end of the day.