My career has been in client services and tech sales to this point, but looking for something different and have had an interest in real estate investment from afar, but it always seemed unrealistic for a novice with limited disposable income.

Based on your questions, here are some insights that might help streamline your financial arrangements and improve your system:1.

This is true in CA - you can't discriminate based on source of income.  

Such an agreement should detail how rental income and expenses will be split to avoid discrepancies and comply with IRS regulations.It's essential for both cousins to adhere to IRS guidelines, which require accurate reporting of rental income and expenses based on ownership percentages.

Know your comps, know your marketI bought the house for $500k knowing that I can put $50k of work into it and get an ARV (after repair value) of $600k based on comps that sold in the same neighborhood– I’m willing to put in the work to make this happen and can take my time since it’ll be my primary residence.As a house-hacker, you’re likely choosing a property based on one of your needs (close to work, near family, etc.).

Strong job and population growth, plus VSU and the military base are steady growing.

Hey @David Cherkowsky - going off of what Jaron already mentioned, there's no real "tool" to track appreciation because its very subjective based off of whats been selling in your area. 

I am 29, single, employed, have ample savings, a full VA loan, and am pre approved for 550k, and looking within an hour of the dc metro area, ideally Harford county MD due to the good schools and military bases near by. 

This will help you to communicate with the tenant regarding maintenance requests, demands for service, handling maintenance and repairs during the tenancy, what the tenant may owe during the tenancy, handling security deposits and claims, etc. 4. 

Yes, once you purchase the property, the property taxes will go up on January 1st of the following year based on the purchase price.