@Sarah Karakaian maybe you can have your cake and eat it too.  

I would also add a fudge factor in there so you don't find yourself eating any unexpected costs in order to do right by your investors.  

This industry is full of unscrupulous types simply because of the money involved here, you better be prepared or it will eat you up.  

these can eat into profit very quickly

There's little appreciation on properties here, taxes eat into your ROI like hungry hungry hippos, the laws here heavily favor tenants over landlords, and cash flow will be very little. 

I hate to chime in and burst your bubble as well but even without the closing costs, the STRESS of buying and selling can eat you up.  

You eat the elephant one bite at a time. 

how about your cost of capital... 22k paying 3% commish plus tax's escrow utls insurance would just about eat that up.. did you pay cash then???

Our manager at the job I used to work when I "traded my time for money" had a household income of probably $350,000-$400,000 per year --- she couldn't afford to go out and buy lunch two days before payday because she didn't have ANY money - she was flat broke - they spent every penny they made on cars, jewelry, clothes, purses, suits, watches, eating at expensive restaurants, etcAs you see, every persons situation is different - as @Ryan Cameron said, the first step is to work on getting your expenses under control- that makes your goal much more obtainable in a shorter time.I had a good job with great benefits, but I had other interests that I wanted to pursue - and I hated going to work every day - so I started working on leaving my 9-5 job - between adding income with rental property and reducing my monthly expenses, within a few years, I was able to leave a job I hated and spend my time doing whatever I wanted- As Thomas S. mentioned, a job is nothing more than trading our time for money - well, Time is the most valuable asset I have - and I wasn't willing to give it away so cheaply - my Time is more valuable than money - You see, it doesn't work in reverse, I can't buy more Time, I can't inherit more Time --- money is easy to acquire, our time is limited. 

However, the sale will eat into your profit, because you will need to pay ~10% for the related fees.