@Jonathan Blanco, I'm and investor and a licensed mortgage broker so I've been on both sides of this conversation.I would look for a lender that (1) listens to you and understands your strategy and needs (hint: it's not always money), (2) has experience working with clients executing your strategy and brings more to the table than just cash - be it advice, relationships, deal-team partners, etc., (3) gives you viable options and explains the pros and cons of each option and (4) you enjoy interacting with - this should be a relationship, not a transaction.Once you find a few lenders like this (and you should have relationships with more than one), then you can start comparing rates and fees.

But it seems like 'nothing' comes for free.  

I took a break from school and shed all points of stress in my life.

I would like to get your recent experiences with rent to retirement - positives and negatives. 

Best experience is hand on training, and not some workshop making you go back to pay for free information online. 

In my experience, a large percentage of them are fully functional adults that refuse to take personal responsibility for their lives, which is why they are receiving free rent from taxpayers instead of working for a living.

@Mitch ProvostFrom my experience of working with over 400 investors, your property near Texas A&M in College Station/Bryan has strong investment potential due to the consistent demand for student housing driven by steady enrollment growth.

The time back will free up more time to increase your active income, or acquisition of more rentals to get you more cashflow (passively or actively).

Yes, I’ve got a mortgage on it now, but my cash flow went from only $1000/month to $2400/month and I picked up 3 more properties basically for free with no out of pocket cash to buy them. 

They are also useful for private phone conversations and could be used for storage of valuables as they could be locked.I'd love to be able to broach this idea with other nationalities and cultures but it's really hard if they're not working very long hours and have hours of free time at home.