But the only reason I went through with it was because I trusted the person on the other side based on a relationship I had previously formed.Obviously do your homework in a market.

It's an alternative to consider IF you do your homework.

Really need to do your homework on the deals and sponsors of those deals.

Do your homework, get proposals, understand where your credit stands (i.e., do you know what your credit score is?). 

I would just request the payoff and see if the demand matches your expectation, if it doesn't you can go back and compare math.

@James York, my quick math shows you cash flowing ~$200/house/month.

@Steve Chan Thanks for putting this out there, especially the math supporting the logic in the 2 scenarios.  

I would also look at maybe in the meantime putting your money into a safe dividend yield stock where you could possibly earn 2% for a little bit higher and then jump in only after you really have done your homework and learn in depth about investing. 

Like anything else in real estate, it just comes down to the math.

This is all my math, as I stated, since prior to this my taxes have been pretty simple.