Hi Paola,If you are looking to buy another primary, looking to put the property into a LLC, may be changes in your income/job, looking for faster/smoother closing, DSCR could make more sense.

I am not sure what type of real estate investing you're considering, but it sounds like, with your family and busy job, you won't have a lot of time to be hands-on or personally involved. 

Property is in Granite City, tenant lost his job, and has stopped responding to texts and emails. 

What we have is a good spreadsheet with a list of tasks, and as they perform the tasks, I've been paying him via Zelle. 

So he can do a crappy job and still get the funds.

Markets, geoglobal conflicts, recession, inflation, jobs can all affect that but time will tell. 

Awesome, great job!

I left my job earlier this month with the intent of retiring -- not so sure how that's working out as now I'm interviewing as I feel like I'm not being productive (this is an entirely different beast).  

If they are changing jobs, they need the new job first and you need to paychecks or offer letter with salary or maybe even the first two paychecks at the new job, depending on their level and income.Ask them about deposit and rent. 

Thus, I have worked 2 jobs (1  is self employment) for 7 years to fund purchasing a few single family homes locally. 20k is not enough to purchase IMO, that should be your savings AFTER your purchase.