Invest in a rental property for long-term passive income?

They are your best option, because when you have tenant turnover, at least you will still have income from the other units.

@Jay Fayz Do you have a source of regular income? 

May give you enough income to lower your DTI.

I am from Iowa so our goal would be to use it in the winter months (dec,jan,fab) and try and break even off the income from the remaining months. 

@Kaleb JohnsonRecommend 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?

Then my passive income would solely come from stock investment.2.

Tax-wise, rental income flows through to your personal return in either case, but transferring the title later could affect depreciation schedules and property tax assessments.

Note origination where the borrower owns multiple properties with little or no debt, needs a loan for an acquisition, but can’t produce proof of income sufficient to get institutional financing.  

The last thing you want it to trigger income taxes from accidentally cashing out.