A lease ties your hands much more than theirs.

But they sometimes also have legal fees if they end up becoming a judgment creditor and don't do appropriate due diligence before hand...And even to get to this amount of income it could take years to build this type of income.

There is no, repeat NO, susbstitute for first hand work and knowledge.

I had no property management experience at all so things got really out of hand.

Also hand write every letter for the homeowner knows you took the time to do this and it was important to you.

And every piece of sold data I can get my hands on.

So, your taxable income can be very small, or even negative, even though you actually have money in your pocket.On the other hand, principle payments are not deductible but they do affect your cash flow.A investor friendly lender will understand the difference between cash flow and taxable income, and will be able to help your though that.However, no lender is going to give any consideration to unreported taxable income.

Check rents, leases, bank statements, tax returns, utility bills, or anything else you can get your hands on.

I'm curious if the higher volume individuals have their own "maintenance man" on hand to adress repair issues.

Go to your local REIA meetings, hand out your cards at local real estate auctions, create a website for investors.