My income has certainly been going up, but it does consist of multiple streams, so it's probably hard to track.

So basically you have an income stream of $180 a month for 15 years.If you sold that to a note (again for lack of a better term) for $5K, they would have a 15 year investment making $180k a month or a 43% ROI.

They like real estate because it's a fixed asset with a more predictable income stream.

The seller wants 200,000 to be hands off and have the loan income stream on top of it.If you get a private investor to put 200k down you will have no skin in the game.

Now in rare cases it's not a ground lease but a leasehold interest where you are just buying the income stream for whatever set time is left before the options kick in.

I'd like to jump back in and get a couple more properties in the next year to try and expand that passive income stream.

Something to consider though, it might be worth a hundred bucks or so to hire someone to dig the garden for a bit and make sure that the crack isn't due to an underground stream running under the slab.

A very good book to read is Rich Dad Poor Dad it will give you some "Tackling Fuel" like Adam Sandler said in the movie Water Boy!!!

Therefore, management fee of 10% is conservative.)I have even considered renovating the commercial space into additional apartments in order to keep a more consistent stream of income.  

I'm also a firefighter, which gives me another stream of income.