Income from leveraged real estate or active business income.

Conventional financing is a great option to get started if you have a W2 job or easily verifiable income and you're financing a 1-4 unit property.

You must work at least 750 hours per year in a qualified RE business.So most people who have high-earning W-2 jobs outside of real estate won't qualify.But the unique thing about RE pro status is that even if you don’t qualify but your spouse does, you can both file jointly and claim the losses from your RE investments to offset your other active income together.It's an incredibly powerful benefit if you do meet the criteria.

What income streams do you have besides REI, or is this it?

I'm a local real estate broker, investor, and manager (100+ rentals, mostly Airbnb/STR and multifamily).House hacking is a tried-and-true method and in Sacramento you can produce some meaningful income while enjoying the appreciation and tax benefits of owning real estate.

Throughout the year I come across situations where people need to sell there home due to a variety or reasons, job loss, income loss, health, divorce, etc.

IMO cash flow provides a way to mitigate the risk of unexpected expenses and loss of income due to vacancies.

@Jemini LeckieRecommend 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?

So, if you have 10 units and you are going to pay $1,500 a month and you are working on an active income job, too, this is an easy switch due to the labor mentally and physically (even if it is just phone calls) to get these rentals running as a well-oiled machine.  

You'll have to look at the income and expenses to predict whether your cash flow will improve.