Were the costs of doing the refi a hard pill to swallow.

They can all swallow the pill of having a primary home and a second house (vacation home/seasonal residence) as a mental jump, but beyond that gets tricky, so I tend to just keep the idea to that level.

That's a tougher pill to swallow. 

I guess at some point one may not have a choice, but man…even just contemplating that is a serious pill to swallow.   

Well to be fair I’m not saying he shouldn’t have bought them (the coc return with leverage almost certainly outperformed an index fund, granted with a lot more headache) or even that he should have sold them a few years ago (the index fund thing makes a ton of sense & I’ve sold properties before and just eaten a small cap gains but when you keep stuff forever that hit becomes really hard to swallow) just that the type of asset you are in when you are older matters a lot more than when your 25, also 5 is hard to manage, if you have 25 rentals and your 88 your going to have a hard time regardless of if you have property management.

Quote from @Travis Timmons: Maximize your W2 earnings, get a 2nd job, swallow your pride and live at home (if that's an option), don't spend a dime on anything if it is not food, housing, or transportation, and pile up money. 

I know that is a hard pill to swallow, but if you are unwilling to consider that possibility, then you are closed minded.

Bitter pill to swallow, but we thank God we're out of there now and focused on other areas that actually cash flow.Good luck with whatever you end up doing. 

It is a hard pill to swallow that you will be hungry sometimes, you will be tired sometimes, you will live in discomfort, you will struggle and you will achieve only in adversity. 

I think that is why this 97% stat is hard for most of us to swallow.