If you have other assets to distribute that you could compensate your sister with you might have a path to assume the mortgage yourself... but if you have to pay her off and the house holds the majority of the proceeds, it would seem like you might need to cash-out refi the house to be able to pay her off possibly?  

Those are the decision makers.Total household income should be a factor.

However, if I start to get too distracted, my wife reminds me that SHE chose to take care of the household so that I can focus on real estate and she pushes me back into the office to make more phone calls. :-) My point...?

Here's just a glimmer into a fraction of possibilities:Passive income ideas:Create a courseWrite an e-bookRental incomeAffiliate marketingFlip retail productsSell photography onlineBuy crowdfunded real estatePeer-to-peer lendingDividend stocksCreate an appRent out a parking spaceREITsA bond ladderSponsored posts on social mediaInvest in a high-yield CD or savings accountRent out your home short-termAdvertise on your carCreate a blog or YouTube channelRent out useful household itemsSell designs onlineYou can always go for creating an #onlyfans account, however, ask yourself if you're selling your soul out for a dead-end path to nowhere.   

I was raised in a cash house hold and we very rarely ever used credit so I have no credit because I was raised with the if you can't afford it you don't need it mentality.

Lowering your household income will affect your DTI and hurt your ability to get pre-approved for loans.

This puts me below the $157,500 at 24% tax bracket (Head of Household) on W2 wage only without the sale of the rental property.

. @ Bruce Lynn and @Eliott Elias As Eliott mentioned Killeen was my first choice as well because of these factors-Growing population -job growth-Median household income $64,000- meets 1% rule @Bruce, if you have any other town in particular let me know. 

The average American household spends around 33% of its income on housing.

New Jersey happens to fall in to the #1 or #2 spot for the richest state in the nation over the past several years, using per capital household income as the metric.