Therefore one of the most undervalued skills is the ability to continue to earn income independent of the real estate performance as you scale until the real estate alone becomes sustainable.

Right now, my focus is on leveraging my degree and skills to land a higher-paying job, increase my annual income, and ultimately grow my net worth.Real estate has always been something I’ve been interested in, and my long-term goal is to start investing in both real estate and retirement to build financial security.

I  Income:  The amount of property you can buy will be dependent on your Debt to Income ratio.  

Hello Devon,You can buy a new duplex with 5% down if you are living in it.You can use expected rental income to qualify.

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

Can you count that $4,600 as “rental income” or does it have to go under some kind of self employment?

Everything I bought is up 2-3x and last year I had net rental income on my taxes of $86,000.

. $55k tax free is like $75k pre-tax W2 earnings...we essentially doubled my income that year.

., equipment) are excluded from 1031 treatment and are taxed separately—goodwill is typically taxed as a capital gain, while equipment may be subject to depreciation recapture taxed as ordinary income.To minimize taxes on the sale of the business, consider strategies such as Opportunity Zone investments, which defer gains until 2026 if proceeds are reinvested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), or structuring the sale as an installment agreement to spread taxable income over multiple years.

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