As Texas has had to pay Elon Musk to Open a Tesla Giga Factory in Texas over $1.1 billion in waived property Taxes many Engineers will move Modernizing Texas's economy.

I've been thinking of investing in the STR space in hopes of replacing my full time W-2 gig (as a network engineer) if the numbers are right.

With Tesla's giga-factory coming to town I highly doubt the Austin market will be slowing down. 5 years from now you'll wish you did.

Henkel got his real estate license in only eight days and, two weeks later, he started looking for properties to buy with the $10,000 in his bank account saved from years of summer jobs.At 20 years old, he bought a five-bedroom condo for about $60,000 near the college campus, and rented the four spare bedrooms to friends for $300 a month.The income provided him with a free place to live while he spent his time replenishing his bank account by holding three jobs: a morning position as a realtor, an afternoon gig as a leasing agent at an apartment complex, and another night and weekend job working at a combination bowling alley/golf course.In the spring of 2011, the opportunity arose to buy two more five-bedroom units in the same area.

I just got my first place under contract in the central valley where I grew up, and I'm using the income from my nursing gig as a means to and end.  

@Paul SandhuI've always had a side gig as an artist.

Maybe it is envisioning having a side gig, as others have suggested, and being able to invest in a way that won't impact your "regular" finances. 

to not account for this at all in your calculations.There's a separate issue with not budgeting at all for property management; you currently have a well-paying gig as a part-time property manager (and I self-manage on some properties, too, so I understand this!)