I had to move back to NY (with parents) a few years ago because of not being able to find employment.

We each have different goals, different levels of income-replacement (or cash-flow) desires, different current marginal tax rates, and I think it all plays into a whatever strategy you employ. 

There seems to be a lack of good jobs in the area and big local employer PG&E is in the process of closing their operations which would further exacerbate the situation.

so I've got about 125k of equity in my home and was planning on refinancing to capture that equity for my next project but no-one will loan because my employment isn't "permanent".

Liquidated my previous employer's 401K (taxes came back to haunt me years later!)

My concerns are now she will not have a retirement through her employer which puts a lot of responsibility on me to make sure real estate works out and we can build enough for retirement. 

I can attest to the benefit of a marketable skill as I went back to work willingly after 5 yrs of self employment bliss doing REI, mortgage brokering and RE pimp(aka real estate agent).

I havent collected a dime on any judgement I have had in last 20 years,,,I quit doing them wasting my time money and brain power.First of all you have to have a valid address and place of employment before the sherrif will even atempt to serve summons in first place,,,if they move out of area not worth the hassle.

Has anyone ever tried getting their rental payments directly from an employer?  

I can sell such products cheap enough so the employer can significantly reduce their costs, even if I'm accumulating a big pile of cash.