I soon realized that to maximize profits, I would need to buy better (flip/hold my own deals and wholesale deals to others) and find more/cheaper money (I need to build a network with private investors/hard money is expensive). 

If you are looking to maximize cash flow as a strategy to use to build up your portfolio, STR is a great way to go.

There are some complexities with how the cost basis is recorded (can be done 2 ways) and an election that can be made to ensure you maximize the deduction. 

Plus, house hacking requires some sacrifices--you have to share your house (or a small multifam property) with tenants, and when you're first starting, you might have to occupy the worst bedroom/unit in the place to maximize your returns (that's the nature of the game.

Trying to juggle this and maximize the ROI on that is exhausting.  

Hey Mike,This really depends on how active you want to work with that investment.If you're looking for something easy, you probably want to put most of that money as a down payment to maximize your cashflow position and buy yourself some stability/income.If you want to be a bit more active with it you can use the money as a down payment for a hard money loan to do a flip.Hope that helps a little!

However, just trying to get the most bang for my buck with the VA renovation loan and maximize my appreciation potential and sell-ability later down the road. 

People with retirement plans looking to maximize income in real estate are looking for people to lease their properties to long term.

Additionally, it can help maximize renovations and improvements.A Cost Segregation study is an IRS approved federal income tax tool that increases near term cash flow by utilizing shorter recovery periods for depreciation to accelerate return on investment.

With that goal in mind, we are investing primarily in STRs in my local area of Columbus, GA to maximize our cashflow to supplement my current income.