The downside is that I give up the freedom to live in whatever neighborhood I want to - I could only afford a handful of neighborhoods further out in the boroughs.

My wife and I have been house hacking in NJ for over a decade, happy to help out and share what has gotten us to financial freedom. 

My wife and I house hacked our way to financial freedom in New Jersey. 

Don't throw away your snail mail and pay attention to the "promotions" tab in your Gmail, including the ads.Sometimes the best credit card signup bonuses are targeted (both paper mail and email) and will result in more bonus points than the offers you can find online.Also, if you have a Chase bank account but you don't have one or more of the foundational Chase cards (Freedom, Sapphire Reserve, etc.), walk into a branch and let them know you're looking to open a new card.Branches and bankers are obviously evaluated based on their ability to open new accounts, and they may be motivated to give you a special offer.For example when my wife got a Chase card she got double the sign-up bonus in-branch than what was being advertised online at the time.If they present you with just the commonly-available offers, let them know that you'll just open it online because it's easier and will result in the same bonus anyway.If it looks like you're going to walk away, the banker may be able to give you a better bonus in order to not lose credit for your account opening.Of course they may not have the authority to do so but it's worth a shot.

Hi, All:I know this has been addressed in the past but I wanted to share my experience and get some feedback on others' interactions with Freedom Mentor.I've been seeking a mentor in REI for a while and have been watching Phil's videos on YouTube for years so I sought his 'mentorship' via his Freedom Mentor Program.

Recheck #4 every so often and keep repeating #5 until you reach your Time Freedom Point # where your passive income meets or exceeds your goal set in #3. 

That’s the amount of time it’s taken me to get to Level 1 Financial Freedom where my passive income is paying my bills.

There is some noise in this comment, but overall I appreciate it, especially on LinkedIn, where everything is an echo chamber of "I help create passive income for busy professionals", "Invest like the rich", "create financial freedom through real estate".  

Mostly because landlords have more power and freedom to raise rents and get rid of bad tenants much unlike Ontario.

You have a lot more freedom to make changes to the house if you own it.5.