One guy is looking to retire and has over 50 house free and clear.

We invest in assets for the long term as God/Navy willing we hope to use them to fuel early retirement in 15 years.Definitly check out the blogs,podcast and forums.

If we were to do this, we'd get a PM to find tenants and do the legal/leasing for us in exchange for one month's rent, but I would take the management from there.I was introduced to BP through the podcasts, and have been reading up on real estate investing, and I'm pretty convinced that I want to get into buy & hold investing as a retirement strategy, but I need some advice as to if my current home is the right place to start. 

Well, if it's "I have a stable job of 7 years, only 2 people living in apartment, great landlord work & personal references, have better than all your requirements, savings, a package right here with all my paystubs, prior tax returns, references, and bank statement, and I'm ready to secure the deposit now and move in on the move-in date..

The two biggest factors that have lead me be able to contemplate retirement before 40 (by retirement I mean leaving the 9-5, not golfing all day in Hawaii!)

We are buy and hold investors with the goal of using the cash flow to retire in 15 years. 

My occupation as a physical therapist can be taxing and i'm already planning toward retirement plan with passive income from REI.  

Also, I assume from your photo that you are also fairly young (like myself) and therefore don't have the necessity for a 15yr loan to be fully invested by a "retirement" age.  

My goal is to be able to secure a true retirement.

We are investing for future cash flow, as we hope to use these house in 15 years to retire early.