We’re looking to increase our lifestyle through the decrease in housing and built a little passive income medium term. 

Thanks Sarah, I don’t see much house hacking going on in Essex or Dundalk in terms of listings on Zillow or FB so my concern would be finding professional adult roommates that want to house share in that area. i’ve been following a lot of the midterm rental groups in Facebook and the consensus is that contracts have decreased significantly and hospitals are using more local labor pools.

Real Estate is THE BEST way to decrease/eliminate your tax burden.

The market has been incredibly robust the last few years and I don't see that changing anytime soon especially as mortgage rates continue to decrease.

The average days on market (DOM) in the NY Metro area has decreased over the last year.

This reflects continued demand despite economic headwinds*Pending sales increased 3.1% in the metro and decreased 2.2% in Austin proper.

Due to high premiums, expenses increase, and cap rates and cash flow potential decrease.

It will make the loans more valuable if you ever decide to sell them and decreases the chances of default. 

Increase income, decrease DTI, and buy a home (i.e., get a higher paying job, work two jobs, go to trade school, get a higher paying degree, live in affordable area, etc...these are things that most of us did).

They include higher the interest rate and lower the terms will decrease the discount needed.