QuickBooks is to generic for me.

So it's appears that every investor has and will have a specific approach to him/her/them based upon many parameters; whereas now I see it's not an obvious generic approach.

Read the billion threads that ask this super generic and vague question over and over again (only thing that varies is the amount of money).I can tell you youll need a lot more money to acquire thousands of units

I'm looking into Real Estate for a couple of different reasons: I want to supplement my current income in homes of "retiring early" and doing Real Estate full time as I'm very interested in it, I find Real Estate much more interesting and exciting than the Stock Market, and lastly, I would like to get involved in something more personable hands-on in my spare time. 

Hey Mark - In my analyses, if I rented out both units I'd receive a negative cash flow of around $200/month.If I lived in one unit the cash flow would be worse, but the rented unit would still supplement my living costs.You're right, the prospect of positive cash flow may get better down the road if I rent both units and rent appreciates in my market. 

I like LLCs better for my passive commercial holds only, personally.My reasons for having the mgt corp were for anonymity (it has a very generic name) to pay rents to, credibility (new applicants are more ok giving my corp holding monies), having a 'bad guy' I have to check with for tenant requests, ease of p&l/bookkeeping, 1 place to receive all 1099s for HUD and agency pays, one mileage platform to record on (not every property), retirement account options, a way to obtain health insurance if needed, etc.  

Now I have 6 policies... best thing I ever did to supplement my investing and just my family life in general. 

I see 3 issues, financial, emotional, professional :Financial - The CARES act has provided unemployment benefits and supplements on top mostly.

Will it cash flow with you living there, or just supplement your mortgage payment and expenses a bit?

@Will Fraser I’ve dabbled with the idea of focusing on a VRBO property to supplement my cash flow issue.