still working on my three E's as well.EducationExperienceExcess CashI willing to bet that the deals will come to me when I have these.

The reason I mention the 'high income' in particular is simply because right now, I seem to be a pretty solid bet for most lenders whereas I'm not sure if my net-worth in stock will be sufficient to get a good mortgage rate since my 'income-to-debt' ratio will be dramatically different.I don't intend to try taking on a bad deal in the short-term just because of the whole mortgage-lendability-risk issue, but I'm trying to figure out how much of an issue it really even is in the first place and how much I should take it into consideration.If I don't have an active income, presumably (and please, correct me if I'm wrong here) I'd still have some potential to get mortgages, but they'd be at a higher rate (e.g. maybe a couple percentage points higher)?

I have witnessed many who lost their life fortunes betting that RE was the only way to reach richness.

So I'm surprised by the minimalist bookkeeping.Thanks @Linda Weygant....I had the same thought about the IRS: I bet if they were audited they'd come up with some figures pretty quick!

Over the course of a year I would bet every note investor spends more than 24 hours on each NPN they have.

Welcome to BP from another South Floridian.Your best bet will be to connect with a HML.This way you can leverage that $120k for flips.Otherwise you will be very limited on what you can buy.P.S.

I know a lot of investors wouldn't want to go this route because they want to hedge their bets ("What if I don't make much money, then I'll still have to pay them interest!")

The way I have it set up, the pre-paid/escrow items do not belong in my "closing costs" column. 

More news from Wall Street JOurnal todayWall Street is betting that more well-off Americans will want to be renters.Financiers who loaded up on homes after the housing bust for pennies on the dollar are buying yet more—despite home prices in many markets being at all-time highs.Their wager: High prices, higher mortgage rates and skimpy inventory are making homeownership harder.

Other options include:retirements accountsprivate lenders (like your friends and family)personal loansBut refinance would be my first bet as well.