Id like to enjoy another stream of income to eventually phase out my day job, so that I can focus on acquiring commercial properties as well as a business or 3.  

Financial freedom isn't simply about replacing your current income, because inflation continuously drives up prices, making a fixed income insufficient to maintain your standard of living.

REPS does not relate to STR's.For short-term rentals (STRs) with an average rental period of seven days or less, you don’t need REP status to offset losses against other income.

In this case even if the project went south and you broke even or even lost money, the equity (debt) you used would still be covered by the income you are earning on the rental property. 

We are not focused on the passive income at this time as both working W2.Questions:1.

.🔥 Why Co-Living & House Hacking Work So Well Together✅ Higher Rental Income Per Unit – Renting by the room typically beats traditional rental rates.✅ Lower Vacancy Risk – Losing one tenant doesn’t mean losing all your cash flow.✅ More Affordable for Renters – Competitive pricing attracts a steady stream of demand.✅ Built-In Community = Lower Turnover – Tenants stay longer when they feel connected.✅ Allows You to House Hack a Single-Family Home – No need to compete for pricey duplexes and triplexes!

So is this just as simple as showing how much the property makes or do they also look at personal debt to income, credit score, reserves etc as well.

I ended up with 12 properties and 20k/mo in income after they were paid off.

@Dan PoratI am looking block by block at the household income and agree with D to C depending on exact address.

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.