BUT then, the tenant complained that they were paying for the credit boosting feature in RentRedi and would not be getting their credit-benefit if the other tenant didn't pay on time. 

To purchase your first property:25% x $400,000 = $100,000 plus a $300,000 mortgage.How many years will you need to let the property appreciate until a 75% cash-out refinance yields $100,000 so you can acquire another property?

A few clear paths (CA-specific notes):Rent it (LTR/ADU/Co-living): Convert to rental, take step-up basis depreciation, and consider adding an ADU to boost cash flow.Leverage it: Use a HELOC or cash-out refi to fund your first duplex/4-plex while keeping the house. 

Put another way: $2mm co-invest into fund yielded about $12mm in acq fees for sponsor).  

Things to keep in mind:  1. clean the dryer vents right through to the exterior exit.  2. make sure the tenant is paying for water and electric--if not, boost the rent to compensate for your higher utility bills. 3. have it professionally installed. 4. install an electronic leak detector. 5. make sure your lease explicitly states your appliance condition and repair rules (whatever they may be).

Once you purchase a property, a cost segregation study can further accelerate depreciation and boost early tax savings.

A few thoughts from how I (and others I know) handle it:High-yield savings (HYSAs): Simple and safe.

We run a management company and no I'm not trying to sell you anything... but here... we offer a free paint approval form... it on our website... it simply allows you as the landlord to provide it to the tenant and they input their color codes, colors etc. and then it describes the quality of what should and should not be done: https://www.g3manage.com/rental-paint-approval-form  --- there is no catch here, basically we provide this system on our webpage for free because it boosts our google ranking, but its free and theres no signup or anything funny like that. 

The leverage is still a powerful tool to boost ROI if the property is purchased well.

This changes the game.Example: Studio Unit (fully furnished, permits, foundation included)1) Market Rate, No IncentiveBuild cost: $200–225K | Market rents today: $1,500–$2,000/mo | NOI: $12.6K–16.8K/yr | Yield: ~6–8% | Payback: 12–18 yrsSolid, but long payback and moderate yield.2) With Charlotte’s $80K Forgivable IncentiveEffective basis: $120–145K | Program rent cap (8 yrs): ~$1,100/mo → NOI ≈ $9.2K/yr | Yield during affordability: 6–8% | Forgiveness adds ~$10K/yr “earned income” | Payback to recover gross cost: ~11–13 yrsThe subsidy de-risks the deal—guaranteed inflows cover build cost faster.3) After 8 Years (rent cap lifts, market rents w/ 3% compounding)$1,500 today → $1,900 | $1,750 today → $2,217 | $2,000 today → $2,534Year-9 ROE after incentive: $200K build / $120K net basis → 13–18% | $225K build / $145K net basis → 11–15%You exit affordability with a permanently lower cost basis and market-rate income.