2 years

I started at the end of 2008 in the height of finacial crisis ... so far I bought 4 three-family houses, so there are 12 units in total, all of them either 3 or 4 bedrooms, each unit fetching rent between $1,500 to $1,600 per month. All of them were bought via short-sale processes. I have one more short-sale three family house in the pipeline and hopefully I can have it close in early next year.

After that I have a couple of options: I can continue to accquire the same type of properties (but good deals are getting less and less in my area); I can get into bigger apartment complex market (I might need to partner with someone else); or I can get into commercial properties (quite a difference market). I have at least 6 more months to decide what to do next.

But no matter what your goals are, I think a decent amount of reliable cash flow is paramount. With that kind of cash generated each month I feel I have a lot of confidence and flexibility to do anything I choose next.