Many landlords sold their properties over the last couple years, reducing supply.

Keep expenses low, reduce liabilities, and diligently build a base of solid assets.

Sure, it will reduce your total debt, but it won't do you any more good than that.

@Robert PolancoI do business in Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi and I would highly recommend you spend as much time as possible with seasoned investors so you can build the relationships necessary to greatly reduce your learning curve.  

The program also doesn't require PMI, which further reduces my borrowing costs.

As active income, it has an additional tax which can be reduced by running this money through an s-elected entity.

Let's say you start in March, might collect more rent up front thru Sept/Oct....and then if they run out of cash by Jan, you're not left holding 2-3-4-5 months of full rent....it would be the reduced rent.   

I had to tell them which debts I am paying off on my credit report to reduce my debt to income ratio because that threw up flags at first.  

This makes your permit process much faster and reduces requirements for things like solar.With that in mind, whether you convert the garage into an ADU or build a 2nd story on top for an ADU, you might be tearing down and rebuilding either way.

This was golden, because having approved permits reduced his build time tremendously and the deal was located where profit margins are high.