Retiring early with a few rentals paid off

[Tim B.]

I've been browsing the forums and it seems that many people are into leveraging their money by buying numerous rentals looking for long term wealth. That sounds great... However, I want to retire ASAP. My SFH will be paid off soon. I'm considering renting out our house ($1,300/month based on two rentals across the street) and getting a bigger home as we're quickly outgrowing our current.

As I mentioned, I'd like to retire early. I'd like to own 2-4 rental properties renting for approximately $1,300/month. My plan is to pay them off as soon as possible. I figure this should go pretty quickly given that I have one property paid already. I like this idea as it reduces my risk and increases my monthly income very quickly. Not only that, but that's only 2-4 families that you have to deal with. My trouble with leveraging numerous properties is that you deal with that many more people, drama, vacancies, repairs, etc. I also plan on continuing to work part-time which will pull me about $24k/year.

Has anyone else done this? If so, how did it go for you?