Charles County, MO, and I unknowingly house-hacked a property at a resort a few years ago.My goal is to increase my position in RE and learn as much about the industry as possible.I'm happy to be part of the community now (officially) and look forward to interacting with you all.

The properties are zoned to increase density, and best of all the area is affordable and experiencing huge rates of appreciation.

With live-in flipping, how can you figure out what part of your gains is from the real estate market increase as opposed to gains from your own sweat equity and rehabbing? 

Just increase the next rent to recoup some parts of the costs.

The goals that I hope to achieve through real estate investing are: 1) to provide a cash flow stream for my mother as she gets older and requires assisted living or nursing home facilities, 2) provide a cash flow stream for my younger brother (who has Down's Syndrome) as he gets older and requires assisted living facilities and increased medical attention, and 3) provide a means of early retirement for me and my older brother.While listening to BP podcast #276 (my favorite) the other morning, I had that lightbulb moment of how to get started in real estate investing. 

Best advice I can give you now is to keep increasing your RE knowledge through books, podcasts, webinars, etc!

Primarily, we are looking for BRRRR and buy & hold properties and know rehab expenses are imminent.Question - What's the best way to increase our lending limits without completely tanking our scores?     

Contrary to many of the so-called "Gurus", wholesaling, In my opinion, is not something an inexperienced person should engage in.

Value add investments typically have in-place cash flow and that cash flow can be increased over time by re-positioning the property and through operational improvements. 

You can tie multiple properties and activities together to meet this test, but that alone won't necessarily allow you to turn passive losses into active, it merely changes the presumption that they are passive2nd bar:  You have to show you are actively engaged in rental activity/property management for at least 500 hours in the year.