Real estate is my career and passion.

Hard work, passion and a little more hard work will get you there!!

My success comes from the fact that I love the biz and am passionate about it.

I feel an almost uncomfortable aggression when I read your post, it shows your passion on the topic and is exactly what I was looking for, very much appreciated!

Let me know if I can help, I still work full time but this is a true passion I've always had so anything I can assist with let me know.

I have always had a passion to be a real estate agent since I was a little girl, and I'm finally working toward that goal!

Some people become landlords, and then hate it with a passion.

As far as opportunity cost goes, with all the free time I would have by simply being a private lender, I could probably make up most of the difference while pursuing my passion (photography) and bringing in some income from that - not to mention the nice quality of life boost.The one big thing I didn't mention is that I definitely do want to become an experienced real estate investor, so, at the moment, I see myself implementing a hybrid of these methods@Jai Reddy and @Larry T.  

My work is my job but I want to do something I am passionate about, and I have become very passionate about real estate.

FWIW, we would start with a management company and transition to self-managed in 1-2 years, though neither of us has any particular passion or aversion to rental management.General detailsPurchase @ $330k in 2010Current market value: $560kCurrent loan amount: $228kRevenueWe spoke with a trusted friend who estimated that the house could rent for $2600/mo in its current condition.Total (52 wk occupancy): $31,200/yrExpensesP&I: $1167/mo (~$14k/yr)Property taxes: ~$5100/yrInsurance: ~$1k/yrYard service, misc: ~$1700/yrManagement fee: 8% (~$2500/yr)Total: ~$24.3k/yrTaxesDepreciation: $12k (Rough estimate found from https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/financi... with cost basis: $330k, recovery period: 27.5 yrs)Mortgage interest: ~$7900Other deductible expenses (prop taxes, insurance, yard service/misc, mgmt fee): $10.3kTotal change in AGI = revenue - deductible expenses = $31,200 - $12000 - $7900 - $10.3k ~= $1000We're in the 25% tax bracket, so these revenues and deductions add $250 to our federal tax bill.Total/yrRevenue: $31,200Expenses: $24,300 + $250 = $24,550Total profit/yr: $6650Even if we managed the property ourselves, our profit would be ~$8500.ConclusionThis is probably an optimistic analysis - it assumes 52 wk occupancy, and relatively low misc expenses.Since we have so much equity (~$330k), our return would be in the 2% range (managed) or 2.6% range (unmanaged).