And DIY repairs are not recommended for other reasons: it will take you much longer to complete, depriving you of rental income, and you run a high risk of your wife becoming your ex-wife.Same risk exists if you push your wife into becoming a Realtor or some other real estate activity just for the sake of tax benefits.

Risk Management:Every investment has risks, and real estate is no different.

That’s okay, just accept the risk of a “surprise”. 

And if you are doing a short-term deal (flipping, etc.) what is your appetite for risk?

I know what my ideal life looks like in ten years, unfortunately, I don’t feel like I can have my ideal life now because I am having to stay in the state that I am in until we can move without risk of my husband losing custody of his child, which will be in about 10 years so believe it or not I do spend a lot of time thinking about what I want the future to be like.

And therein lies the risk of high-leverage.  

If you're talking about single family homes/ duplexes etc. the neighborhood it's in will generally give you the risk profile.Hope this helps.

Basically, you are taking a lot of risk and have limited upside.  

And there is a constant mention of Guaranteed returns there is no Guarantee unless its the federal govmit on 250k or less FDIC insured .. this was simply investor greed.. investors did not understand what they were investing in what the risks were and were blinded by the returns offered.. no one put a gun to their head.. investor make bad investments all the time..  

Your income isn't high enough for it to make sense as a rental and the closer you get to your residence limit the greater pressure you will have to sell it before losing your exclusion in whole or part. 500k right now can make $15k per year income with zero maintenance or tenant risks.