When can I quit my 9-5 job?

[Joshua Hill]

Any advice out there on the best way to pull away from the full time job and make landlording the main gig. special formulas , cash flow, separate income accounts. My biggest concern is that once I leave my full time job, I will not qualify for new mortgages based on my income. Any thoughts out there or shared experiences on how you all made the transition?

[Lynn Z]

don't quit your day job. My CPA keeps suggesting I go back to work to support my rentals and I've been at it awhile. He makes me sick....but he has a point. Let's say your quit your job and buy some rentals. You rehab them and have big write offs for a couple of years. You go out to the local mortgage banker and produce your two years of tax records and....low and behold, they treat you like you're a bum...few of them even add back in depreciation when they look at your scedules. What they want is a W-2 that goes with a job which takes us back full circle.

Be prepared on the financing end of purchasing and holding real estate. The pendulum is definitely swinging back to conservative lending guidelines.