@Tim Holt, Yes INDEED house hacking is the best option for most 1st time buyers.  

They just make sure to disclose that they don’t represent the buyer or the seller I guess.

Most brokerages will pay around 25% of their commission when you refer a buyer/seller.

I love that you have specific goals for 2025 - I believe if we think it, write it, say it, and share it our goals are 10x more likely to come to fruition.Are you able to do option 2 and just house hack a 2-4 unit building and use a renovation loan which allows you to put down 3.5-5%I highly suggest getting to some local chicago meetup groups (we have an in person one on the 17th)...here is BPs list: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521-real-estate-events-...I also have a full list of the chicago meetups that I can share with you too if that'd be helpful.

The integrations we setup for you plus the drip campaigns of texts, emails, ringless voicemails, and direct mail pieces to automatically follow up with sellers may make it a good fit for you Are you just cold calling currently to generate seller leads?

The seller had a good rental history strictly on VRBO & decided to move onto other things.

As already mentioned, you could sell via seller financing to lower AGI, as all you would have to claim is the payment income - until balloon payment received.Did know an investor that had 14 properties paid off and he moved into one every two years to then sell with the $250k single exemption.

I have seller financing and entity swap as 2 discussion points going on.

You can still buy houses in small farm towns in MN for $25k.

Supply and Demand: When buyers outnumber sellers, prices and rents rise.Population Growth: Cities with significant and sustained population increases are more likely to see long-term rent growth.Job Stability and GrowthA property’s value is tied to the jobs in the area.