I was taking the first applicant (or group) who turned in their app and fee, now I am accepting apps turned in within a certain amount of time and choosing one who looks most stable on paper.  

Our goal is to use the cash flow in 15 years to retire on. 

I put quotes around decisions because its become, in many ways, almost an unwritten law that you go to college, get a job, work for 30+ years, and then retire, grow old, and die.

One benefit of going that route is you can see your "business/investment properties" along with other retirement accounts, checking accounts, etc.  

33K in student loans, about 11k on plastic (wedding/honeymoon/school), plus houseMy experience in real estate is limited to spending time with my grandfather growing up.He had several rental houses and would always be working on them.As I grew up and paid more attention to the business side of his work I realized that he was working just to stay busy and not working to create more income.His end goal was always to create more income but he was always distracted by the job of remodeling and updating.He has been my mentor and main father figure for years but now it is time I “upgrade” to someone capable of guiding me in the direction I want to go.I will always love my grandfather but his business sense is not one I need to follow.My goals in real estate are to create a “four hour work week” (gotta love the Tim Ferriss way of life) by a combination of buy and hold and flips.I hope to use this method to create a stable business and then move into apartment complexes.After lurking on this site I have learned about the different rules needed to ensure profit out of each.In my farm area there are many MLS deals that fall into these numbers.Now it is just about raising funds.I would love to find some Sub2 deals.Famous FourFavorite real estate book Never read one.Bigger Pockets Favorite business book Poke the Box by Seth Godin, 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, and No More Mondays by Dan Miller Hobbies include working on cars and spending time with friends and family.These are very important to me and I do not get enough time with my desk job with either.What is thing that sets apart successful investors from those that fail Getting back up on the horse after failing and not letting friends and family tell you that being an investor is a stupid idea.

A stable property should return about 15% of your investment in cash, and then you will also have tax benefits for deprecation.  

Assuming you can find decent, stable tenants that don't have you busy worrying with them, I would say this is a better investment than a bank account or an index fund, by far.

About a year in, my boss asked me if I was interested in retiring in 10 year.  

One was retired.  

He said he is a retired engineer from TI and I was thinking of using him for my next project.