You want to have a balance between debt and good payments on that debt.

I am working two (non-real estate related) jobs, in order to pay off college debt and save for my first rental property!

If I put the first house in my LLC will the debt come off my personal credit, which will help me get approved for the second home I want to live in.

It should be calculated without debt service to calculate the return.

However, the mortgage broker I use is able to count the income of my rentals against the debt.... so I continue to bump against his DTI limits, but as long as each investment makes sense and has decent returns, I can continue to buy.  

I sleep very well at night being debt free

Example if you looked at your amortization schedule at the end of year 1, and saw that the total schedule principal payments for the following year, total $4800.....if you wrote a check for an extra $4800 payment right then, you would eliminate one year off the term of your loan, and on your next regular monthly payment you would effectively be making payment number 25 instead of payment number 13.

Plus the bank will devalue your cash flow by debt to income, forcing a 25% vacancy on it.  

Our nets were amazing becasue we had cash flow, appreciation AND principle pay down all for very little work.Personally I love going into a place that I can leverage my money and than have my tenant pay off for very little down.I LOVE leverage but hey were are 1.3 million dollars in debt.

As long as you have a 12-24 month history of renting the property most banks are able to cancel out the debt obligation when considering you for another mortgage.