My intention is not to boast but to inspire and share the significant impact that BiggerPockets, especially Joshua Dorkin and Brandon Turner, have had on my life.I first encountered BiggerPockets at 23 while enduring long 14+ hour days as a pipe fitter on hydroelectric dams in northern Manitoba, working 21 days on and 5 days off shift schedules.Although I was earning well for my age and educational background (I barely graduated high school), the job was unfulfilling and almost toxic, mainly because of the dynamics with the associates in the industry.

Her credit is high 600s vs ours at high 700s and will be the basis for refi if she stays on.Are we thinking this correct and fair in terms of both options?

The real estate market is strong with property value remaining high. 

Ranching is not foreign to me, but as an investment property I wouldn't be operating it.The seller is only willing to go as high as a three year balloon.It is on a well and has a septic system, both of which I would pay to have inspected prior to purchasing.

i like the screening and rental payment features  Thanks! 

It’s definitely not a get rich quick game, very much a long term game.

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

And the quality of living is very high. 

One last advice I can give you is that MORE is not better, choose low maintenance high demand locations and the rest will fall into place.

I'm looking into multifamily (duplex & self landlording) in my local area to get started, but my tri-state area (CT/NY/NJ) has a high entry price point that I'm concerned with over leveraging myself and losing liquidity on my first deal.