First, figure out what your long term goals are for you and your family and then look at which business model would achieve those goals the best.

What are the optimal combos of these?

There are pockets of neighborhoods in surrounding towns to Naperville that are ideal for investing $200k> - just need a local expert who knows where to look and can help you achieve your real estate goals.

Although you can achieve cashflow, it takes a “cycling” approach, IMO.So my pivot in to notes came about from wanting to achieve similar returns that I saw in rentals without the same headaches (notes aren’t perfect and have their own headaches as well).My background is in Investment/Corporate finance along with RE investing since 2015.

Who models your belief's and is actively doing what you want to do/achieve/hope to be?

I initially used an experienced STR property management company but let them go when I felt that I could optimize the guest experience and my bottom line.

The reason this is true is because when you prepay your mortgage, your effectively achieving a rate of return equal to the coupon rate, or loan rate.

It has played a huge role in how ive been able to achieve what ive achieved so far. 

I’m curious about utility optimization.

@Mindy Jensen Used consistently , this sounds like a very effective tool in achieving any goal!