We both have good jobs and we're almost living on one income.

I have 2 and 1/2 years left on my Army contract and my goal is to be financially free through passive income by the time that contract ends.

I will add that while neither was purchased with the knowledge and full analysis of being an income producing property, the area is strong enough to support the homes as such, and we will even be able to have a (very) small cash flow within the first year. 

I know I could pay for work as it gets done, but I'd want all work completed within a 4-5 month time frame to get it rented out and start generating income to pay off the CCs.

remember the 100+ year old part... its a bit musty, but we can fix that)My goal is to hang up the corporate gig in 24 months (and yes, I said that 12 months ago)... now getting some more doors in the portfolio will actually allow that plan to unfold.

Being i invest in low income areas ( I live in a fine rural community) it has taught me a lot about poor people to be honest . why they are poor .. how they are poor and how they survive living in squalor .

Basically, I'm taking a leap of faith, using lessons learned in "Long-Distance Real Estate Investing" to hopefully build a passive income stream. 

In 2016 we used an accountant to do our taxes and ended up spending 10% of our income from the property.

I’d say sell that property before something goes wrong then go back to square one, save up for a down payment and ample cash reserves for when something inevitably goes wrong, establish 2 years solid and consistent income, build credit, find a bank to work with and start over again in a better asset class.

Fact is lower income people have the lowest barriers to moving from one job to another and from one place to another.