Building a duplex or triplex for house hacking could be a solid investment strategy, especially considering the potential rental income and your ability to live in one of the units.

We want our daughter in the better school district.Both of our income increased significantly this past January.

Also my cash flow is not that great (relative to value of RE) because I have extracted value on a consistent basis (income is almost $20k/month more than piti but when subtracting off the other expenses (cap ex/maintenance, vacancy, misc) it is less.

Probably has another source of income resulting in them not closing houses and not being immersed in real estate on a day to day basis

Since then I figured out since I meet the income threshold I could consider it a "second home" vs. rental investment so I could put 10% down, which has me even more interested.

Some of those being sales tactics, MLS access, network for investing, market data, insider industry partner networking, obviously extra income to supplement your USAF income, helping fellow vets/servicemembers and any buyers/sellers at that, and not having to pay an agent when you are accumulating properties as well. 

@Sasha JosephsEither way California is going to charge you the annual fee - but speak to your cpa and see if it makes a difference

Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.Class D Properties:Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with zero or negative relative rent & value appreciationVacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560, little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions.

I'm also a veteran 100% P&T so i have a steady income and plan on taking advantage of my veterans home loan benefits for this project if possible, especially if there is a construction option. 

Since commercial real estate is largely an income property driven industry, appraisers will heavily skew value towards the income approach.