struggling with this decision

[Jason Jones]

I have worked in corporate america for over 15yrs and investing in real estate part time since I was making $70K on job... Well, I recently lost my job now finding another one is so painful and stressful that I really want to do real estate full time. The problem is i have about $2500 in the bank and $130k in 401k . I was think about liquidating my 401k which after taxes and penalties would net me about $95k and buying 4 properties I can rent out for $500 to $550. By my calc that would give me a 12% IRR over 5yrs considering about 1.5% appreciation. and would give me $22,600 before tax cashflow that i can live on and reinvest with.. I have been struggling with this decision for weeks..

[Daniel Chang]

Essentially you are saying that you want to put all your eggs into one basket, no room for error, no emergency fund for yourself or your properties, only to have cashflow of $22.6K that is likely barely enough to live on let alone reinvest, and just hope you always have renters, nothing breaks, or the economy doesn't experience a downturn.  

What could go wrong?