It takes longer to realize, but the gain is worth so much more than a couple hundred dollars of cash flow a month.

While they cash flow, we've realized we're over-leveraged and want to take a different approach.Our plan is to purchase our first investment property in Indiana, possibly paying cash, with the goal of generating reliable income.

@Sonja Revells , after reviewing the agreement you uploaded, I realized it could be a bit tough to fight for your EMD due to these sketchy clauses.

I realize I added no context.

Property appreciation that you realize that you don't get if you rent.4.

Once that extra rental started generating income, he realized the higher interest rate was just a temporary hiccup on the way to bigger returns.In your case, maybe look at a structure that keeps your best cash-flow property on a lighter refi (say 50% or 60% LTV) while you go a bit heavier on the one that’s not producing as much right now.

Early on, I realized that real estate isn’t a solo business.

You could lose months or years and still not resolve the problem or realize you cannot do what you wanted. 

Not realizing I was only getting a few hundred a month from it and from a cash-on-cash perspective I'd have been better off buying TBills with the click of a button instead of all the hard work, stress, time, and planning I put into it. 

Another option is to look into some funds as well that allow smaller investments. some are anywhere from 500-$10,000 minimums and accept non accredited investors (through regulation a+).If you ran numbers of a loan paying p&i at 10% but ot being able to reinvest the principal payments you realize how low your returns actually are. so yes notes are great but also understand that idle money for any investment is not fun.