The letter reads something to the effect that "We are writing to let you know that we have already fully approved Joe Xmas for $1,000,000 in conventional financing, provided that: the paperwork comes through, what he told us was true, employment verification is good, etc..."

There is no such thing as balance- Balance is something you get after you have arrived or achieved at your goal whether that be tons of rentals, flips or whatever your goal.During your pursuit of it there is no such thing as balance- That means if you are employed you will be spending an insane amount of time working on your real estate stuff, you will not spend as much time with family friends etc.

For example I know for a fact some employers will not allow you to get a salaried / exempt position without a college degree.The benefit as someone mentioned above by having a degree is you will most likely earn more thus allowing you to save up more $ for your real estate deals.I would recommend getting a degree in something you are interested in.

At 500/day for a real contractor, WC and employer share alone racks up 40-60% of labor cost, that turns your 15/hr 120/day into 180/day on carpentry/similar, two guys is about 400/day with gas and food, leaving the contractor at 100/day for himself.

@Travis Sperr Was your wife employed? 

I mean, take your logic, and go tell all the employers, landlords and renters in the Bay Area of San Francisco about it and see how quickly you're laughed at.Keynes and Smith would roll over in their graves at the way economics actually plays out in the real world.  

I've been on my own journey of self-employment for a few months.

My employer really wants to keep his custom reports and he also seems excited about the possibility of cutting our software costs.

I use rentecdirect.com, which charges me $29.45 to run a criminal/credit/evictions search and I check references (employment and landlords) myself IF the reports come back looking good.  

Rent is 1600 a month which she would share with another employed state worker.761 credit score!