You are not going to qualify for active and will not get any extra depreciation.

Something like a house hack, rent out extra bedrooms in your unit, rent by the room, mid term, short term rent the owner occupied unit on busy weekends (and go stay with friends/family)...get really scrappy.

I will also say, I expected over a year and a half going into this, based on my information and research at the time, knowing about permitting and material delays in the area. 

North side: Avondale, west logan square, albany park, rogers parkSouth side: Bronzeville, brighton park, mckinley park, bridgeport, west half of pilsenI agree with “trend is your friend” and avoid areas that might but havnt popped off.

Keep your equities levered at 20%(half high vol, 1/4 low vol, 1/4 basic indices) and keep your phys/hard assets levered at 40%.

While I don’t regret anything in my life if I was to go back in time I would finish the real estate degree and go into something real estate when I graduated at 22 instead of doing it half-as**ed for years.

I'm a pretty big advocate for the south side of chicago where you can find properties half that value and cashflow really really well in turnkey condition. 

Half of my rental portfolio for the last 10 years in the Bay Area have been Section 8 tenants.  

After adding an extra bedroom and bathroom and rehabbing the house, I was well over budget.

Living in one unit and renting out the others could offset a significant portion of your mortgage, giving you extra breathing room as the sole income earner.