You're putting $12k down on a house and you'll be making $600 per month (what you were spending in rent plus the extra cash flow minus your vacancy/maintenance).

You can always make extra payments and pay it down faster.

What’s the slow but gradual way to starting earning extra income Via real estate?

If income is a worry for you, pay the extra 1% in APR and go private.

Paying a few thousand extra dollars now (if you have it or if it fits your calculations) to get a lower rate locked in for 30 years will pay for itself a few times over.

If you do choose to let someone come in and make changes it might be worth asking an extra 5-10%.

The buyer doesn’t have the extra money and because it’s a flip that had a couple unforeseen issues our margins are super tight and if there’s nothing we can do we will have to go back to market.

This might require some extra work, but ultimately people feel more independent now with all the information out on the internet.

Also, my full time job right now is managing two large properties in a mostly dominated college town in Kansas.

If space is a limitation, then why spent the extra money?