Starting too late in life?

[Heather B.]

Hello community. I think this is my first post. *Insert long winded personal story here*, and now I'm 49, chronically ill and exhausted, but finally in a position where, if I can figure it out, I think I could start some real estate investing. I'm not afraid of hard work, it's just that my body now dictates how much I can do, so I can't commit to the hustle that others can. But I don't want that to stop me. There has to be a way.

I don't have a lot of money to start with, and it took a long time to get into the position we're in, with excellent credit scores and money in the bank so, while I'm not naive that it takes money to make money, I'm not willing to risk our home, credit scores, or empty our savings. At our age we can't be as risky. However, I know I can do this somehow. I know I can do it without being too risky. I'm trying to figure it out. I'm watching, reading, researching, doing my own comps for practice, etc. But I find myself in a strange position. That of actually being able to qualify for credit that I couldn't before and having a little money to use. Very little, about 10k.

Suddenly, a house we've been looking at is possibly within our reach, but I'd need a 203k since we'd be living in it, not flipping it. Although I would flip it if we didn't want to own it (and I had the money), it's an incredible deal. I digress. This same day that I made an appointment to go inspect more closely and start the pre-approval process, I see that two FSBO homes have been put up in our area, with Land Contract options. Again, too good to pass up, from an investment standpoint. I'd be so stupid to not get them both if I could figure out a way, pending further inspection of course.

I'm not a greedy person, I'm satisfied with 'enough'. However, I need to have a way to do my part in bringing in income, my husband may need back surgery soon. AND we really want this other house, this kind of opportunity might not happen again for us for some time. In that area, almost certainly not. BUT, those two smaller, local properties would be good investments. I would be a fool to pass any of these homes up if I don't have to. I could use some guidance or suggestions on what to do, what options I might have to have my cake and eat it too, so to speak. Or to not do one or the other. We do have the option of renting out our current house if we do end up moving, which would increase our monthly income by about $350, or we could just sell it, which would reasonable let us walk away with $25k. Assuming the market doesn't crash before then, which I'm hearing a lot of warnings about. Another reason I'm having reservations. 

If you've read this far, thank you. And think you in advance for any advice at all.