I like to plan for best and worst case scenarios, then decide how much risk to take on.
Looking for 15 or 30 yr mortgages directly on the rental properties is one way to do that. There are, of course, other ways. In theory, going this route **ought** to have been simpler...
Right now, we're getting a rental in the same town we are in. It's a way to mitigate risk and keep costs lower.
However, getting 6 or more leveraged houses in the same town makes our rental portfolio subject to localized downturns. One such SCHEDULED downturn is when the 2016 BRAC (Base Re-alignment And Closure) decisions are made. It's not unlikely that the military town we're in could drop in population by thousands of renters (with the corresponding side-effects felt throughout the area). We might also gain population, but it's a major, near-term potential impact on our area that is totally not in our control.
One way to mitigate risk is to get some of the next rentals in a different town. We're exploring doing that in the small town our son lives in some 6 hours away. We can hire a property management company for the first year and then have our son take over after learning the ropes. That gives us a competent, trusted agent to look after our (and eventually his) assets in the area. It's not a booming area but it has been growing over the years.
We could go ARebelSpy's route of getting properties all over the place but we're too ignorant to go down that path yet. Maybe after we get our 2nd property and know more.
I can get work **somewhere** fairly quickly. I'm good at what I do and I make sure that what I'm good at is in demand. Getting work close to where my wife is working can be more difficult, particularly in the localized downturn I mentioned. My wife, given her field of work, is highly unlikely to find another full time job in a hurry. Given her age, it will probably never happen, so she's tied here until she retires.
Right now she's working because she enjoys it and it will help me retire earlier. (She's 10 years older than I am and could retire at any time and go on SS.)
I don't mind taking on some risk of leveraged real estate, I just want to minimize the cost and risk when I do so. :)