He's paying $22k per year for mortgage alone, beside the mortgage he and his wife need 30k a year to live on.

You are paying the tenants about $5K a year to live there (plus repairs). 

I was concerned so much so that I switched which side I would live in because of it.

I just put in my 2 weeks notice this morning also.Thanks for your post- its great to hear about more and more of us taking the scary jump to live life more on our own terms.Congrats!

sounds interesting to partner with him as I don't live in the states and can't get a mortgage as I am not a citizen so would be nice to have someone that has knowledge of the US market and that already has a team in place.Any insight to this guy or even your opinions about this  would be much appreciated.

Wife lived in the house for awhile with kids and then moved out.

There are some lenders who will do a 10% down payment up to 4 units and you do not have to live in them.

You can't even change a lightbulb.You or your family can't use or live in the property. 

Now, I live in Fort Worth and work full time as a Realtor.

I live in the Rabbu site - I like the customization aspect, with most sites it provides enough information to make accurate assessments, you can also pretty clearly see the difference between a well run STR and a MEH run STR.