In Atlanta, Georgia - unless you get caught doing something illegal, it's considered 'grandfathered in' and won't be a problem when buying or selling.

The house has a basement that has been built out to be, what I assume, was an illegal 2nd apt. 

I retired in 2008 with 21 years in the Air Force.13 sales in your first year is pretty impressive, particularly for someone on active duty.

Contact potential sellers who are not actively seeking to sell their real estate holdings.  

Take time to learn through military-focused resources like Military House Hacking or Active Duty Passive Income, and connect with other military investors online or on base.

Can you wholesale a deal that is active with a real estate agent?

In these markets, I would be worried about crime, activity of illegal immigrants, and such. 

Getting rid of pitbulls, breaking up illegal activity, evicting nonpaying tenants, renovating to the studs so we can get higher rents.

There are several different types of income in the US tax code.Two main types are “active income” and “passive income".Active income is money you earn from working, such as wages from a W-2 job or income from running a business.Passive income is money you earn from investments like real estate, stocks, or rental income from your RE portfolio where you earn $ without actively working.Normally, you can't use passive losses (like losses from real estate investments) to offset active income like your salary from a W-2 job.That is unless you are an RE Pro.The reality is, that Real Estate Pro status is just a filing status similar to filing married or jointly.And if you are a real estate professional you CAN use passive real estate losses to offset active income from other sources.To qualify as an RE Pro you must:1.

As long as you're doing that, there's always a risk, and 50 years from now it will probably be illegal everywhere to operate STRs in residential zoning, just like it's illegal to operate a steel mill there.