I believe in putting in the work—1,000 hours of research, testing, and learning—before offering advice, and I’m excited to tap into the collective wisdom of this community to refine my approach.Here’s where my head is at: I’m considering strategies like short-term rentals (Airbnb) for higher cash flow, long-term rentals for steady income, or even creative options like house hacking or partnerships to stretch the funds further.

Even when you buy a property with tentants, you also have the risk that they stop paying you and since you didn't screen them, you are left with just hoping they won't do that.

Or even a paper calendar? 

Honestly 350 days a year I don’t even think about it. 12 days a year I wonder if everyone paid and if not will they pay, for about 30 minutes.

With 56% appreciation rates in less than 10 years, even the stock market can't beat North Carolina!

One might even invite you to visit one of their projects to talk about it in detail and give you a peek behind the scenes. 

I live in Sacramento, and have noticed that people are offering either equal or above asking price even for homes that sometimes need 80-100k in repairs and I can't see how they would even make a profit doing that.

Even if straight off a cliff. 

Quote from @Shaun Ortiz: Hi Jason,Thanks for sharing your journey—it sounds like you’ve gained some invaluable insights from your experiences, even with the squirrel tenants (that’s definitely a story!).

House hack is the only option but even that might not be feasible.