If you are looking to buy in PA, its possible you can qualify for PHA KFIT program that gives you a 5% closing cost forgivable loan.

Also, the term "house hacking" is generally used for your owner occupied home (renting out rooms in your primary home) and that income cannot be used to help you qualify (it is considered boarder income). 

Once converted to a rental, repairs and improvements may qualify as deductible expenses, but pre-conversion repairs typically do not.

., from crypto) by reinvesting the gains into a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) within 180 days.

Under this rule, if you spend at least 100 hours on the property and no one else exceeds your time spent, you can qualify as materially participating.

Montgomery Metropolitan Housing has a reputation of being difficult to work with and are slow to pay at times r so I have heard.One thing to keep in mind is that even with section 8, you still get to set your criteria that tenants need to qualify for your unit. 

And you'll have a solid W-2 income to help you qualify for loans. 

While qualified dividends get preferential tax treatment, real estate offers:Depreciation deductions1031 exchangesCost segregation opportunitiesHome office deductions for your management activitiesAnd more!

I would be very careful in working with a 1031 Exchange Qualified Intermediary that provides ("sells"0 replacement property solutions as part of their services. 

You can always consider doing a cost seg study on a property that you buy and that can also help with tax benefits if you cannot qualify for the real estate professional status.