I would also make sure to know what type of financing you will be using--the traditional choice is a second home loan, but this doesn't allow you to use future rental income to qualify.

My CPA retired in 2021.

Accumulated over $400k a year in passive income.4.

I am not planning on quitting my day job anytime soon but rather my hope is to gradually grow the amount of income I am able to bring in over the next 5 years to be in a position to make Real Estate my full time gig. 

For example, two 22-year-old friends renting a place together may be higher risk than a retired woman living on her own.

For me, it was my way of easing into the rental business and also a way for them to start living on their own.So I get less income than I could AND I lose tax breaks?  

You can always start off by house hacking meaning you live in one UNIT or ROOM and renting out the other vacant units/rooms to offset your monthly mortgage payment.There are several ways to run and make sure you are maximizing your rental income while keeping your living expense as low as possible.

I have one of my guys walking a duplex today, All in should be 75k, rents will be 900/900 so about 14k- 15k NET income so 20% ish.

Short of that, the deal seems to be solid once you're able to bring in current market rental income to each unit.

I have no other income than from my 3 STR's.