Living off Real Estate Investment fulltime

[Leandro Gabriel Chavarria]

I keep seeing videos, articles, etc talking about BRRR and how to use rentals as a means to quit the 9 to 5 job. Maybe I'm missing something but how would one do this with rental properties if the cash flow (assumed $200-$300 per door) is being kept in an account for potential repairs? I guess I would like to hear from folks that are now doing real estate investing full-time and no longer have a W2 job. Would this freedom come after 20 years when most of the properties are almost paid off?

[Nicholas L.]

@Leandro Gabriel Chavarria you got some great responses, and I'll also add the following from a much bigger picture perspective - I think folks usually have some other income stream on top of their rentals, whether it's a part-time job (theirs or a spouse or a family member); social security (for folks eligible for it); dividends from stocks; something online; etc.  People who have rental income only (after all expenses, as folks have pointed out) and nothing else whatsoever I think is pretty unusual.  For example, for my family, I plan on a combination of part time work, real estate income, and dividends.