My “Minneapolis property” is in a tiny town/suburb called Tonka Bay (think Tonka truck toys) but I say Minneapolis because no one’s heard of Tonka Bay.

I have also toyed with the idea of continuing to rent in Denver and try to invest in something out of state.

I plan to do a lot of creative financing so partnerships and other strategies will be something I toy with.Question: How many properties will it take for me to get out of the rat race?

The state does ask you to, yes. 

Instead of buying toys and booze, I saved nearly 75- 80% of all that I made to put towards a house, thanks to living with my mom during the that time. 2008, I was ready to be a new home buyer.

I have one outside my garage that holds all tools, inventory, and toys..... the property is miles away from my house so I get video and audio.... it alerts when there is motion on the inside.  

I don't need the cash flow right now, and honestly if I had an extra couple hundred from it right now per month cash flow I would just spend it on toys or in maybe in savings.

They're a toy compared to the Graco but they'll work for small jobs.

You can achieve much higher with real estate but I know what it's like toy have student loans looming so I'd try to balance it out.I didn't read every post but if it hasn't been mentioned house hacking also will allow you great cash on cash return because you don't have to put down a ton of your own cash to increase your cash flow and after one year move into something else for a low down payment and now you have a rental property.

Which property management software are toy using?