Larger brokerages sometimes are in need of administrative work, which could earn you a steady income while also getting exposure to the field. 

This aligns with my interest in passive income.

I'll add on to what the other Ben said and mention that there are exceptions based on the # of days that you rent out your home to where the income/expenses are excludable (being lesser of 14 days or 10% of total usage if under 140 personal use days).

He calls and tells me "the income to mortgage isn't 1:1 and he is going to have to let the lender know."

Thanks for the feedback; some quick stats: 9 doors across 4 states, about 50% LTV ratio with a Net Income of about 17% and cash on cash of about 3%.....in fairness those numbers include some overall business expenses not tied directly to one specific property.

@Paul De Luca PITI 11.4k, Gross Income (once I move out) 12.5k 

What ways could you lower the expenses or more income from the property.

Basically wholesaling would've been the best but there is alot of negative comments about wholesaling this days.So what is the best way to make small income with $0 from realestate and also grow along the way?

If you're interested in seeing how that all breaks down from an income and expense standpoint, I created this Sankey diagram to share with you:As for me, I'm planning to leave my w-2 job and take a little career break before deciding what's next for me. 

My wife and I have overhauled our personal budget to reflect the 'pay yourself first' approach (allocate in order: income comes in -> invest -> donate -> fixed expenses -> variable expenses -> fun $$).We are looking to see what experienced people generally recommend for a holding tank for that 'invest' allocation while we target our first real estate deal.What financial vehicles have you guys used that works well for this?