If you’re a responsible, moral person you won’t go the mortgage route just so you can “walk away” if things go sour.
Have you identified a property yet? I’m not seeing you talk about the price to rent ratio. That would certainly color my decision making as a point in determining how much positive cash flow you’ll have to funnel back into your account(s)
if you’re sitting on investment dollars ($100k+) consider investing in a Delaware Statutory Trust. Keeps you in the RE game but in a passive investor role. A particularly good move when selling a property, doing a 1033 exchange.
im divesting my RE holdings and doing that. I’m tired of being a landlord and the closer I get to retirement (2.5 years) the more I want out of the active game.