All Forum Posts by: Tom Giles

My question for flippers and whole sellers is  how are you investing for retirement or do you intend to flip/whole sale for current income your entire lifetime? 

@Bob B.

 Bob Thanks, I have been living in it for 2 years this April. I will be moving out the last week in May. I am told that Feb-Mar is the best time to list a rental for a June move in here in College Station. 

@Eric Thomson

Hello Eric, Yes I do have future investment plans in the PC/Panhandle area. I recently moved my 90 year old mom into a home located next to my sister on Oak Ave. I acquired and renovated that house 5 years ago but have kept it vacant for family visits. My first real estate project in PC this summer will be rehabbing my mom's house on Flower Ave, across from Oakland Terrace Park. I plan to make it a rental property. It needs a new roof, HVAC, flooring, kitchen, bath rooms, paint and the removal of 60 years of accumulated stuff.  After that project, I will be looking to invest in another property. My wife and I will be living in our primary residence at Dear Point Lake.

I moved from Panama City, FL to College Station, TX 3 years ago for an employment opportunity that placed me almost geographically centered between kids and grandkids. I rented for the first year and stumbled across a HUD Repo while looking for a more suitable place to rent. The SFH was built in 07 in a still growing subdivision but was a disaster zone. I bid the asking price that was roughly 25% below comps in the same subdivision. My initial motivation for the purchase was to lower my housing cost from $1000 per month to $550 per month, spend my monthly housing savings for rehab then sell it after two years when it was time to retire. I ended up spending about twice the planned amount for rehab. I also decided not to sell but instead rent to through a property manager. My property manager listed it week before last and had it contracted is less than a week for a 1 June move in date. I will retire and move back to Panama City the end of May. I have $35K cash invested and under the 50% rule, I will receive $400 per month in passive income.

Wow - I just invested 2 hours to this thread, expecting to read about a happy ending. Best of luck Will!

@Jerry Padilla 

@Jeff S. 

@Frank R. 

Thank you Jerry, Jeff, & Frank, I see now I need to do a bunch of Prep work while I am still employed and I really need to rethink delaying Social Security. I will probably need to show SS income to qualify for conventional loans after retirement even though I don't need the income to live on.

@Eddie Werner 

My present TSP match is dollar for dollar up to 5% of my base pay. My prior private sector 401K match was dollar for dollar up to 6% of my base pay. Both equates to a an immediate 100% return on my investment. Yes I agree that many plans offer a smaller match as low as 50% match for the employee investment, up to 4-6% of base pay. That is still an immediate 50% return on investment, not too shabby. If the employer does not offer a match then I would stay away from their investment plan and I would not invest any more in the employer plan than the maximum employer match unless it is a fantastic plan.

@Terry Lewis Thank you terry, that is great advice that I didn't think about. I will start on that immediately.

@JPaul Mills  Thank you JPaul, I can use all the help I can get. I have been intimidated by real estate investment ever since the horrible experience I had with my first home back in 83.

I will be living in my primary residence located 15 miles north of PC. I may be wrong but the PC market does not seem very good but the market seems to improve further West towards Pensacola. Lets definitely stay in touch.

Congratulations Sandra! I am getting a late start at this in life but hope to acquire a third rental this year with a minimum goal of one per year until I am too old to do it anymore. 

I am 61 and preparing for life after retirement beginning this summer. I will have 2 pensions and some rental income that my wife and I should be able to comfortably live on without immediately drawing SS when I turn 62. I would like to acquire several more SFHs in the $80-120K range to rehab and turn into rentals. My immediate regional focus will be NW FL between Panama City and Pensacola.

With the loss of earned income after retirement, I do not think I can immediately qualify for a conventional loan for investment property. I do however have about $180K in equity on three homes, neither of the three are my primary residence. I also have $50K in cash.

I am thinking that I could obtain HELOCs on a portion of my equity to add with my cash to make a cash offer and purchase of my first SFH after retirement. After I rehab the property and get a lease, I should then be able to qualify for a conventional loan on that property to free up my HELOC and some of my cash for another purchase.

Is this a feasible and sound strategy?