First off to be clear when using income for these screening purposes its GROSS income (before taxes).

but keep in mind CA has higher taxes and reg fees and I’m not doing more than 1-2 flips (short timeframe flips)  a year and many years do 0 flipsDo most flippers put flips into LLC Or in personal name (sole proprietor)  in CA (where you must pay $800 yearly plus accounting and other fees $300to $600+ yearly to maintain LLC) Pros for personal name-save on taxes accounting.

All the best to you during your last semester.Househacking is one of the most common routes for new investors in NY.For best returns, I'd recommend focusing on South and Southeast Queens, Central and Southeast Brooklyn, and the Bronx.There are parts of the suburbs (Westchester and Long Island) that have househack opportunities but the property taxes are higher and the commute time to NYC is longer.Abel

School me on tax strategies within each model.  

What you owe doesn’t affect how much tax you owe. 

Can you either rent out your current property if there’s been little/no appreciation, or sell it tax free?

Personally speaking, from an investment broker and investor standpoint, I feel single family investing is the riskiest in some investment ways in comparison to larger investments due to the fact that it only takes 1 repair or tax/insurance hike to put you under or lose all income.

. $800 yearly tax for each LLC.

Cash flowing markets, low taxes, landlord friendly and large demand in renters. 

Make sure to factor in insurance (slight change as rental), property tax (in our market is 2x a primary res), vacancy (3-5% in most markets), capex (old roof?)