And I often wonder if this is one of the contributing factors to the large amount of foreclosures in our area: reluctant long-distance landlords who have a former primary residence as a rental.

Depending on your individual tax bracket/rate this should save you money after all numbers are crunched, factoring in the amount of interest you pay as this is, obviously, a true cost.This of course also means that you, during the phase of paying off these mortgages quickly, will have less cash in your account.

You need to add some other stress factor added to not owner occupant (absentee) like vacant and / or vacant AND late on taxes or mortgage.  

@Garvin Yu I think the most important factor here is your plan to grow.

I came upon this site by searching "lifestyles unlimited reviews".

No cable, and no TV (lifestyle choice, to many deals to do) 6.

When you are gambling a huge factor in your success is limiting your downside risk.

A few of the units around me dropped their prices, but even then they wound up renting to people that I rejected due to any number of reasons, so the season has definitely thinned the pool of good prospects.My units show well and are all updated, but I have fairly high criteria (650+ credit, non smoker, 3x rent) so it may also be a factor.

The hard part is factoring in the time to acquire 100 doors on your own. 

Labor rates and service calls are getting quite pricey and for folks that cant do the repairs themselves they need to factor those expenses into the overall deal.