24 years old! Should I cash in Roth IRA to buy rentals?

[Timothy E Sullivan]

I am 24 and I am a merchant mariner. I have been sailing on the Great Lakes as a Deck hand. I sail during the summers to pay for school and 4 years ago I stayed out for a full year. That left me with a nice bank account after I paid for school and put a large sum away into a Roth IRA, but after the last 5 years I have not been happy with it. I know it's a long term investment but after the last few years of getting updates it hasn't done as well as I thought it should have.

I have a good amount in the Roth IRA, and I have been looking at homes around one of the major local universities. There are a lot of duplexes under 10 minutes from the heart of the college, and under $50,000. I have seen what real-estate can do for people, because my grandfather was a developer in the Washington DC area. His 10 children are still reaping the benefits of his work.

I guess what I am asking is if my idea of taking some, if not all, of the money out of my Roth IRA would be a good idea. My gut tells me probably not, but I think the benefits in the long run of buying these homes would set me up for the long haul.