I would suggest going with the neighbor to the County and apply for a Lot Line Adjustment (might be called something else in your area).  

Then afterwards (2014-15 and beyond), Real Estate market starts to pick up again.It often depends on the timing and the investment climate.

This would put the assets needed at around $1M - $1.1M.The question is what yields are tolerable in all economic climates.  15% may be pretty ambitious with a large recession like what we had 7 years ago.  

I felt like I signed my tenants up and then found out about a bunch of items that couldn't be done through cozy automatically such as adjusting the rental rate or terminating a tenant from the system.

The 40k job adjusted for promotions and increases even with inflation will not allow you to save much at all.You could also go into business for yourself and get an SBA loan putting 10% down.

Once interest rates rise, prices will have to adjust because there will be a much smaller pool of buyers outside of Hyde Park and other foreign buyer enclaves.

It can be tricky to peel the grippy bits apart to make any adjustments, and the planking can break while trying (it's only half-thickness at the strips). 

I have friends over at Atlanta and Charleston, SC and I like the climate there...I wonder how it compares with the Mid-West for investing.

Johnyou are on the right track here but I would adjust a little.

I have 20 years left on a libor adjustable $1 mil mortgage that has been at 2.5% for the last 4 years.