Companies are unlikely to consider cities with high crime or cities with high operating costs.You will need multiple properties to replace your current income.

-The mention of syndication being less risky than HML...I'd suggest it is more risk, possibly much much more since you don't know whether you are good or bad at vetting the operator right now.

So, if I withdraw $60K, about 75.24% of that should come from contributions (since that’s how my balance is structured).75.24% of $60K = $45,014 → Comes from contributions (no tax or penalty)22.38% of $60K = $13,428 → Comes from earnings (subject to taxes & penalty)Taxes & Penalty on the Earnings Portion ($13.4K)Federal Income Tax (24%) → $3,219Early Withdrawal Penalty (10%) → $1,342Total Tax & Penalty: $4,562Net Cash After Taxes and Penalty Fee: $55,437The DilemmaIf I leave the money in my Roth 401(k), continue contributing $525/month, and earn 8% annually, my balance could grow to:$229,865 in 10 years$606,905 in 20 yearsBut if I buy the property, it could generate $15.6K/year in pure cash flow, plus appreciation.

I want to operate from a place of logic, not fear.

Now to the bad news: it is REALLY hard to be a 20yo real estate agent and make a living wage, let alone generate cash for a down payment.

Usually turnkey operators suck the equity out of a deal and sell at or above market so there goes the equity. 

Professionals find good deals, operates them professionally hopefully providing a profit without you have to deaL with the issues that face a landlord every day. 

If my retirement goal is to generate $10K per month following the 4% rule I would need $2.5M to retire.

Thanks, it all sounds good as long as I can avoid paying hefty taxes and generate cash flow.

This is not the case for the majority of metro areas across the US.In less hyperbolic markets there wasn’t an intense amount of speculation so operators didn’t pay high and are weathering the storm on interest rate resets and are finding a way to refinance Deals with maturity walls.I am finding that a lot of killer deals with my clients are happening in the sub 50 unit deal space for those who need to sell, because there’s much less competition in a chase for yield.