Don Johnston - a "re-newbie" or newbie again - from CA and FL

[Don Johnston]

Ok...so I have an entry here in this forum somewhere buried under at least a years worth of others' introductions.  I have been MIA off and on over this time span but plan on being on here regularly from now on.  

I currently live in the San Diego area of California and lived in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for 12 years.  I also lived in Littleton, CO for a half dozen years.  Yes, extreme heat and humidity to freezing cold to Goldilocks-Just-Right-San Diego...but extremely expensive.  I am 63 and my goal is to live off social security and the "passive" income from 2-4 plex rentals in Central to North Florida.  I am halfway through "The Ultimate Guide..." and I am reading @Brandon Turner 's Book on Rental Property Investing and after that his book on Managing Rental Properties.  I have been a renter.  I have owned 4 homes...one at a time and one after the other.  My "fall-back" job is construction and handyman.  I have been a computer programmer.  I have $20,000 to invest now (but that is the cart before the horse...need a little more "education first") and will have another $50,000 when I sell the townhome my ex is living in in Littleton.  I am thinking/researching student rentals near universities in Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville or Tallahassee.  I have married kids in Tallahassee, Port Orange and Ft. Lauderdale and as I mentioned, I lived in the Tampa Bay Area.

I know there are great and knowledgeable people on this site as well as just plain "normal" people.  You ALL have something to offer and I look forward to hearing from you.  I will freely share what I have to bring to the table.  If I come across negative or critical on any post, call me out on it.  I don't like that in others and hate it when I fall victim to my own "non-filtering" of my opinions.

When I am no longer needed as caretaker of my mother here in San Diego, I plan to move to Florida to be near my kids and investments.  AND, no matter how big or small a unit I live in, it will have air-conditioning.  I remember the summers.

Thanks and looking forward to "meeting" many more of you on this site.