living off rentals

[Jason Phillips]

not for sure if i posted this in the appropriate forum .

i would like to hear yalls opinion about how i should proceed .

my current status is im 37 have wife and 3 kids own our home .bring in around 35 to 40 k a/yr as a full time maintenance/ janitor. we own 7 rent houses 5 are paid for . we put as much of the rental income towards the loans of the other 2 with the plan of getting another as soon as those are paid for . day job income go to health ins , Walmart , and to keep the lights on in that order , with nothing left to save .

our dream is to have enough rental to live totally off that income and i quit the day job . at current rate ' the way life likes to kick you when your down' its going to be 5 to 10 yrs before i can quit unless i go insane first.

should i continue to take out loans to buy houses or save up and pay cash ?

would there be any financial benefit to quitting the day job now ? we could maintain current life style just would not be able to buy more houses as fast.

if i quit the day job could i get on welfare ?

[Steve Foth]

Am I the only one taken aback by the last question? Please don't quit your job and try to live off other tax payers....

I think the majority of people in these forums would cash out or use a heloc on the 5 paid off houses to purchase a few more...you could easily end up with 10 properties that are being paid for by someone else. Then 10 years from now you could be in an even better position. 5 free and clear properties is a heck of a start.

If you enjoy real estate, maybe you could find a job you enjoy in that field rather than working a job you don't appreciate. It will only become more difficult to convince yourself to work to your abilities when you don't enjoy or need that current maintenance job. That doesn't sound fair to yourself OR your employer.