I am new to real estate investing, my only real estate experience is that I bought my first house about a year ago and I currently rent out some of the rooms to make some supplemental income.

My goals in real estate is for it to supplement if not replace my current income.

I am currently working full time in an architecture firm and I am looking to supplement my current salary with real estate investment income.Listening to countless BP podcasts has inspired me to stop wasting time daydreaming about what could be and take action!

We think this is a way to supplement our military income once we retire in 16 years!  

The generic answer is -- it depends upon the local codes. 

Instead of paying the 1k/mo I pay now, I'll be paying just a few hundred in utilities for my side and to supplement cap ex/repairs.

Still a ways out from retirement, but my goal is to have rental income supplement (maybe eventually replace) the income from my job.

Not a generic I buy houses ad.  

As a supplement to the good info Nicole left1) You don't need to register a DBA with the secretary of state if you're operating in your own name.2) If you have a regular job and Ok credit you may qualify for conventional credit.  

While nobody can argue both QB and Xero do what they do well (generic accounting), it's a pretty solid consensus here on BP that landlords are better off using software designed specific for landlords.