Finally got started investing at 54

[Scott Eisenmann]

Hey everyone. I'm new around here, but I've been reading about real estate investing since the 1980's, when I bought a book by Wade Cook called "How to Build a Real Estate Money Machine" and a home-study course by Carleton Sheets. 

I was too busy working to support my family and paying bills most of my life, and didn't pursue my own REI business like I planned to 30+ years ago.

Well, I'm retired now and I finally bought my first rental property earlier this year. But it's not your typical rental, because it's about 600 miles away from my home. I bought it the traditional way, with bank financing, so my elderly parents could have a nice place to live for as long as they're here. They're paying all of the expenses, so the cash flow is break even for me (could be worse), but I'm hoping for some long-term wealth accumulation as it builds equity over the years, and eventually some positive cash flow. When they pass on, I'll just hire a property manager to keep it rented. PITI is only about $1100/month and it should rent for around $2000/month when I put it on the market.

I am also planning on buying a new home and moving soon, and then renting out my current home. Incredibly enough, it's financed at 2.875% interest (wow, I still can't believe it), and I should be able to get another great rate on my next primary residence, but probably not that great. Hmm, I wonder if this is a good strategy for buying houses with bank financing...get a good interest rate on a primary residence and just keep moving every couple of years and turning homes into rentals. 

Anyway, since this will be a local rental for me, I may manage it myself until I get more properties or get tired of dealing with tenants.

I am always on the look out for good deals in my area (NW metro Atlanta), and my goal is to have about $10,000/month in positive cashflow, so I may need 20 or 30 more properties to get there. But I want to learn how to buy them without bank financing if it's still possible. I'm also thinking about wholesaling and flipping houses if/when I find a good enough deal.

At least I finally got started, and it feels great to have taken that first step, even if it wasn't all that creative like most of the gurus teach.

Looking forward to learning from all of you.