Use your W-2 income to qualify for multiple loans now, stack a few properties before quitting your job, and consider BRRRR or DSCR loans later to scale.

Focus on high-demand rental areas (suburbs for multifamily, tourist/business hubs for STRs) and consider scaling with the BRRRR method to build passive income.

I also live in Tomball and have a similar need for a CPA with heavy RE / investment income experience.Matthew

@Ming HuangRecommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

My base income is ~$95k per year.

@Alex MessnerIf you're weighing whether to rent or buy with significant student debt, it’s important to consider your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and how it impacts mortgage eligibility.

I have lived in Hawaii for many years but now that I’m a traveling healthcare provider, I am off island more often than not.When I’m not on contract I would love to have a place to return to and when I’m away I would love to rent it out for some additional income.

So, we bought the property 2 years ago, based on the valuation of the property considering income from 6 units.The sale deeds (from 2018- 3 sales) I could get from the City and the property tax statements (2023,2024) show that the property is zoned as 411 (apartments).

Quote from @David Cherkowsky: Quote from @Sasha Mohammed: Hi David,There are lenders that will allow you to purchase via a DSCR loan using STR income to qualify.

When you say "section 8" tenants, are you looking at low-income housing tax credit type properties, or standard rentals that are in lower income areas and therefore cater to HCV tenants?