In general, debt reduction isn't as bad for us as many tend to think here on BP.Instead of buying more tenants and toilets I took some cash and reduced monthly payments by about $3300 last year. 

Texas is a great place to invest, we have tons of inventory, and a fairly stable, i.e. predictable, market and tend to weather the national fluctuations better than most states. 

I read a stat that things listed with realtors tend to sell higher, which makes sense.

If we owned property in Brasil, I believe we could travel to visit family there and have a tax write off with it, as long as part of our trip was to tend to business matters in regards to the house. 

The USA housing market tends to swing more than Canada for ups and downs in prices.  

Obviously this is just a guess and not actual data but I would tend to agree that the majority do violate laws, especially today since many of the laws have been added.

So in a nut shell I have $150,000.00 plus $250,000.00 into the apartment building for a total of $400,000.00.

Where do you tend to source this data?

There tends to be a little bit more inventory at lower price points in the areas you've mentioned.  

I tend to suggest looking for a two-unit so you don't have to meet the self-sufficiency list which is a challenge for most 3-4 units in the city.After that, you've got some awesome real estate agents above......I'd be looking in Hermosa, Belmont Cragin, or Portage Park.Happy to connect and help out anyway I can.