My older brother, who is currently flipping his first home in Philadelphia, enlightened me on the possibility of real estate as not only a supplemental income but more so a way out of my house via house hacking.  

Then, supplement with your own research.BPO's are beyond worthless.

My husband and I have a goal to purchase some buy and hold units to supplement retirement in 10 years.  

Unless Chicago experiences similar appreciation as LA, which I don't see based on pre-recession vs. post-recession median home sales price numbers, the implementation of a Rent Stabilization Ordinance will discourage investment from buy-and-hold investors, who will start to see a squeeze on cashflow (restricted rents w/rising property taxes) supplemented by sub-par appreciation gains.

I'm definitely going to stay on bigger pockets because this is a very powerful and free tool to have, but I'm also looking to supplement this really awesome tool with other tools that are out there.  

I'm ultimately looking for a way to supplement and eventually take over my salary from my "day-job."

If I supplement that cash with some money from a HELOC, my buying power will be significantly better. 

This keeps costs and timelines to the absolute most efficient, enabling us to see really competitive returns.

Though I don’t plan on leaving my current role any time soon which is a Manager at Equinox I do want to get into REI and supplement our income for the time being.

By working closely with our partner Rodney Lomax, we ensured that all financial aspects were handled smoothly, enabling a fast transaction with minimal hurdles.