Early Retirement Through Real Estate

[Brian C.]

My post is just to get a general idea and discussion for those out there who wish to, or have been able to, retire early with real estate. I know the word retire can mean different things to different people, and the variables needed to get there vary tremendously from situation to situation and person to person. My ideal retirement still involves working in real estate, it just means I’m not working my 9-5 and I can take a 6 month+ vacation away without having to worry. I have a good idea of how I want to get there, I’m just curious of other people’s paths to get there.

My original goal with real estate was to provide additional income for retirement; have a couple paid off houses and help supplement retirement income from my 401k, social security (if it still exists), etc. Once I started to see the benefits of real estate investing, I realized I could use it to accelerate my retirement and not wait until I was 65. I’ve been a little addicted to the idea ever since and if I keep up my current pace and don’t have any major setbacks, retirement within 10 years is very possible. I could get there even sooner if I followed a lot of the advice from Bigger Pockets money podcast… I just don’t think hardcore frugality is my path forward.

I enjoy finding properties, fixing them up and making repairs and taking care of my properties. I just don’t want to be doing that in addition to my full-time job, I want to be doing that instead of it. Has anyone successfully retired early or close to it? Did it go as expected? Any tips along the way? Thanks BP community!