Pay yourself a salary and enjoy.

They were able to enjoy the Holiday Season without the stress of making house payments.

My tenant has a masters degree in Art and enjoys creating ceramics.

I have more than one offer on one of them and it helped a friend I met in Real estate reconnect.I have other offers on my other deals from my marketing efforts but I am SO enjoying the bidding war on my West End property.I did get a couple of people that said the property was too high for them.

I enjoy contributing, and if I get a little for giving a little then that's all the better.

Accumulation of wealth is not worth the hassle if you are not enjoying every aspect of the game.

My opinion, I enjoy the idea of being debt free while I'm learning/shopping around.

It's entirely up to your risk tolerance, but might as well continue to enjoy the ride while everything is going well.  

I am fairly handy and would enjoy fixing a place up and giving it more "curb appeal".Here's a spreadsheet I put together with 3 scenarios.

Disclaimer:  I know this topic is brought up often in the forums, however, I would enjoy being able to talk through my personal situation with anyone who can offer advice!