my daughter and I went half on a long arm-we have never regretted it for one moment.I do not aggressively seek out work and just by doing a few quilts for others and the completed quilts I sold in 2 yrs has almost pd for my half.that was not my goal-I just wanted to do it myself.She has become a very artistic quilter and loves to do custom quilts for others.the main thing with a long arm is having room and patience to learn. so if you think you may like one-try as many as you can before buying one.our intent was to have fun and quilt-but if you can make a little money along the way that is great