Is employment good in that area?

Here's my scenario: Right now, all of our income comes from my employment salary, and from investments (rental income from RE and Stocks).  

Long story short, I could NOT keep my rentals rented not even to Sect 8 because when economy took a dive, people who wanted to stay employed moved OUT of the area and that made room to the "other" people that trashed the asset class from a B- to a blunt D in as little as 2 years. 

I told my current employer on April 1st..

The Eastside is going to be one of the more resistant areas to priced drops mainly because of our huge employment bases.

As someone who consummates approximately two deals per month, I have experience in the arena of funding real estate acquisitions, remodels, and flips.Imagine yourself responding to a job ad - the employer wants to know he can establish a working relationship with you, and that you will be motivated and reliable when it comes to performing the job you're applying for.  

I guess I would have self-employment income (the rent I take in) and then all of the expenses including what I pay for the master lease?

Also subject to both halves of "self employment tax" which is social security plus medicare.Yes, this does eat into your profit.  

Since you are in IT maybe you can ask your employer for an opportunity to work from home, even if it's a couple days a week.At the end of the day, the final decision has to be your own.

The retirement type funds that are not associated with your current employment can probably be rolled over into something that is self directed and thus allow you to invest in RE in your area or elsewhere.My advice would be if you're in high profit areas like I believe Baltimore to be (and may become more so with your recent events) would be to do it on a Roth basis.