I am planning to do a house-hack while I finish college but I am held back currently by lack of consistent income due to my student status, which heavily limits financing options, as well as a general limited amount of available cash.I came across the idea of rental arbitrage.

I’m a second year law school student and I want to start investing in real estate.

Whether you can use Cost Seg to accelerate depreciation and offset your personal taxes is dependent on your income level and whether you qualify as a real estate professional + materially participate (I.E. pick tenants, repair issues, maintain property) in the properties you're invested in.

Most lenders do not use proposed short term rental income when you have no history on your IRS taxes to show the higher rent, they ask the appraiser to come up with a long term rental survey (you pay for this about and extra $200) and that minus 25% expense ratio is compared to the principle interest tax and insurance payment of the propose purchase plus your total housing PITI as if you drew 100% of the HELOC at the maximum rate plus car, credit cards, student loans etc...You need a lease and a deposit payment banked in your checking before docs.No it is not likely or "believable" that your spouse is buying another owner occupied home unless: you can show you are divorcing thus you need divorce decree and whatever expenses from that mess.

My strategy is to rent by room with a specific targeting of college students.

We bought a single family home and lived in it for a few months before renting out for student housing.

FHA loans, and typical financing in general, can be difficult since we have 700k in student loans.

There is where I see most of my students rank that take it seriously.Now...What are you doing? 

Stop teaching your students this.

Will certainly join and participate on the next one.