When following that formula it might seem that you do less deals but in reality you do MORE deals because your money lasts longer.

Instead I sent them a notice raising the rent exactly the amount they were charging for these rooms (at this point they were on a "tenancy at will" lease).They must have gotten the point because while they did pay the increased rent the following month they included a notice they were terminating their lease. 

Easiest for seller and worst for buyer (riskiest)2) Go to a title company to pull title and check ownership ($150-$300) and then follow step 1 above.

If you paid $300K+ for the townhome that really is not a great ROI%, but you'd still be cash flowing $165/month from essentially doing nothing.The option to sell or not is up to you, but if you didn't want to there's always the following options for tapping into equity.1) Taking out a HELOC2) Taking out a traditional home equity loan3) Cash out Re-finance (normally done on free-and-clear properties though I think they can be done as long as you're above 80% LTV)

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That sounds strange, but you have nothing holding you back from venturing out of your security...because you have lost that security blanket that was your job.I would venture to say, that most of the success stories in history, started out where you are right now...me included.So, with nothing holding you back, and with plenty of time on your hands (time will always be your greatest asset...since you can never get it back), if you want to get into REI, you need to do the following:1 - Learn,2 - Learn some more,3 - Keep learning.Places to learn (before you say "that costs money"), that don't cost any money are:1 - Online education sites that have free articles written by experts in their fields.2 - Free e-books, that you can get online.3 - Joining your local REIC's to both learn and network.4 - ...and never stop learning...even when you become a success at this (and you will)Also, three very critical actions you MUST follow to be a success:1 - Always think possitive.2 - Train yourself to think of future "obstacles" as temporary problems...and you are the problem solver. 

My example of success and doing hard things gives my children an example to follow and I can lead them along that path.Thanks for reading everyone.  

They do it all the time......and I would absolutely throw the other non permitted investors under the bus if they were doing something that I was not allowed to do just because I followed the law.       

Regarding your question about refinancing and cashing out the equity in the home, the Fannie Mae guideline states:“The property must have been purchased (or acquired) by the borrower at least six months prior to the disbursement date of the new mortgage loan except for the following...”The exemptions to this rule being if the property was purchased with all cash and qualified under the delayed financing rule, or if the borrower acquired the property through some form of inheritance (Divorce, etc).

Talks a lot about focusing on listings vs. buyers and the follow up/touches that are required to really build out a business.