I know a 50something year old friend who just left corporate America forcefully and is having the same struggles.I’d suggest to both of you a healthy dose of abundance mindset.

As long as you have a healthy debt to equity ratio, you will be ok.

Given the rate of rise, a 15% step-down (YES, "step-down" is a FAR more accurate label then "crash") would be a GOOD thing, healthy, it would signal some normalcy, and be the next chapter which will inevitably be followed by next step's up.

I've been listening to some folks that make a compelling case that the US is uniquely equipped to emerge healthy from the next few years.

I believe 3% to be a healthy and sustainable rate of increase.

Scary stuff.For your existing tenant, I would increase rent a healthy amount during the next renewal.One other bit of advice, I would hide your last name on BP so a perspective tenant doesn't see you discussing this.When I was a new landlord, I thought vacancy was the worst thing that could happen.

But your's show perfectly healthy lungs - and that just can't be.Why didn't you just say so - OK; take the new ones.A week or so later the man is called back in - there is a problem.OK; now what?

I also have two little kids (5 and 2) and would love to have more flexibility when it comes to them -- volunteering in their classrooms, taking them to the doctor, staying home with them when they're sick.And here's a weird little tidbit: The doctor who treats me for anxiety thinks leaving teaching and becoming a full-time REI would be great for me and my mental health. I

Of course, it should be noted that I’m not implying that it is healthy to remove every luxury from our lives, rather I just think it can be very eye opening when even a normal, middle class family closely examines what they spend each year on luxuries in comparison to the capital required for a real estate deal and for the vast majority of middle class families, their vehicles make up a significant chunk of excessive luxury that can be down sized – unfortunately, we often exaggerate those luxuries as necessities.

When applying for loans, the lenders like to see a healthy balance and it helps me get approved just because I have it.