. = no frat bot lifestyle + 10-11 hour days + job safety net/fallback + success

The middle class lifestyle is often financed by debt."

Instead we let them continue to fulfill the terms of the rental agreement and keep their home.Income of three times the rent is an industry standard, but we've had tenants who had income of only twice the rent who led a thrifty lifestyle and had no problem.

She should reconsider her lifestyle.

On the flip side, I live such a spartan lifestyle that only one or two deals (the average is $12K here) would free up several months for me, allowing me to study everything in-depth. 

How do you guys balance the needs of personal lifestyle vs RE investment capital?

there are lots of ways to make money in real estate....decide the lifestyle you want before jumping in to the deep end.  

I feel it's worth it, based on basically zero vacancy rates and very low turn over (we are typically under 15%).I expect the market for high end multi family to reach a saturation point soon, probably putting pressure on high end rents, but there will always be a subset of tenants who prefer the life style of a single family home in a residential area over an appartment building, even if it's really nice.

Figure out what kind of lifestyle you and your wife are comfortable living.

My goal is to be able to live a comfortable life style and retirement plans for our future together is there anything I can do to make her better understand my vision for us.