A primary residence is where your mail is delivered, where you have utility bills in your name mailed to that address, where your driver's license says you live, where your w-2 and IRS etc. are filed.A second home is a part time owner occupant and is usually 100 miles away and in a resort area.Four units in another state while you own single family where wife lives is not owner occupied. 

Apps such as AirDNA, Your Porter, Google Suite, Zapier, when utilized together can effectively handle the 75% leaving you to simply take up 25%. 

And now you have a high priced ($500k+) house in a market that’s appreciating at double digits.

Tax returns, banking records to show income coming in and bills, rent, utilities going out.

Buy or inherit and hold all their lives while working the properties for income.I've seen teachers, firemen, software engineers and all sorts of people utilize both strategies successfully.

If she still needs help there are programs that help the renter pay for utilities and rent. you can offer that as an option.

And pay all of his own utilities.

He keeps utilities in his name so he can shut them off if the tenant isn't behaving.

Almost everything I have is in double digits.

.• More than half of San Diego submarkets recorded double-digit rent growth and asking market rents have grown by an average of 17% YOY ($2,600/month).• The current pipeline of 7,300 units will be unlikely to apply much upward pressure on regional vacancy rate.