Despite the financially risky and scrappy nature of my job (compared to my peers who chose more traditional and stable jobs out of grad), I have a decent yearly salary that is above average and enough to get modest financing.

But having a W2 would be for vacation and health insurance and a stable paycheck.

You're out of pocket cash would still only be half of what it would be on that $40K property and you'll have a more stable asset.

Providing a stable monthly income that requires very little management.

The larger your target audience the more stable your results. 10.000 addresses will yield you 10 deals for the cost of 60k.The numbers may be different, I made them up as an example, but that's the type of math that goes into it.

In hot markets like Chicago prices can be very stable over time and rents may or may not rise every year.

So, it can be a wise strategy to pick them up after they get hammered for pennies on the dollar at the trough (2010-2012) and dump or exchange them for higher quality (but lower initial cash flow) assets that are a more stable store of wealth closer to the peak (which I believe is where we are in most markets today).

Now I have decent credit and was able to buy my first house after building a stable business.You can't even get mortgages on houses that cheap. 

I am a recent college grad with a stable full-time job, but I want more... and real estate investing seems like a great place to start.I am looking forward to discussing and learning about real estate on BP!

Hopefully you have quality PM in a geologically stable area.