Joint ventures entail utilizing your own money to buy properties with others.

Then, if you can trend over time you'll want to see where the "path of progress" is going/moving and attempt to buy in that path of progress to gain some appreciation in the future.

I am not sure if I would make the same decision today.However, if you think you can purchase real estate and have a SIGNIFICANT delta as an investment, I would not cash out the 401k now to buy real estate. 

Quote from @Alex Spivey: I want to start renting as soon as I can so does anyone have adviceYou want to find a place to rent and occupy, or you want to buy an investment that you can rent to others?

Towards the end of last year, one of my buddies contacted me and told me his accountant told him that he needed to buy some real estate to lower his tax bill.

With that said, I've done some research on the market and found the following information helpful in my considerations for Phoenix that you might find helpful as well:  Demand for both buying and renting property remains high due to the city's strong economy and growing population. 

For me I would not buy a property with zero or negative numbers. 

A 1031 exchange is for selling an investment property then buying another investment property. 

Hello everyone, I am reaching out to the BP Community for suggestions.My Portfolio100% owner of 7 SFH PropertiesGP in about 30 SFH properties(of which I own somewhere between 25% to 50%)All but two properties are managed by a PM CompanyNet worth of the above is about $2,000,000 - $2,500,000My IssuesI have many SFH's - Which take up time(Currently spending time paying property tax and insurance, requesting quotes on insurance policies and overseeing the PM Company(approve rent increases, approve renovation projects, etc).They also take up head-space(having to remember property addresses, remembering when property taxes are due)(I have reminders/systems but something I would like to reduce)Goals1) Spend less time on Real Estate2) Free up head-space2) Make $240,000 annually from real estate(Which I think is not to hard if I can increase my net worth and can get an 8% return)Possible Solutions1) Sell all the SFH's and buy 4-Unit Properties to take advantage of conventional financing2) Sell all the SFH's and buy one large apartment complex3) Sell al the SFH's and invest in syndications4) Sell all the SFH's and purchase stock / bonds5) Continue to hold all the SFH's6) Any other suggestionsOther Considations1) Should I consider private notes?

Buy properties with more and more units.- Can also try to do seller financing, but much harder to find.