We have some retirement accounts.

The seller must've been very motivated to retire...are you buying any residential properties now or does this project pretty much consume all of your attention these days?

Like a calculator to simulate this strategy (https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/61/topics/795487-retire...), maybe showing how much equity could be pulled out of which property when, whether the portfolio would still cash flow, etc.

I have cash reserves and money in retirement accounts, but I don’t want to dip too deeply into my reserves.

I am expecting to do 3-4 deals per year until I get to 20 properties or so and then snowball the debt so they are all paid off by retirement. 

As a retired CPA, I saw plenty of tax returns by these firms that clearly were done poorly. 

I like to stay in the working class areas as they make enough to pay the rent and bills, but don't have the financial discipline to save enough to purchase their own home. 

I find this option best if you are on a tight time frame and need to save a couple of weeks.  

I retired in 2008 with 21 years in the Air Force.13 sales in your first year is pretty impressive, particularly for someone on active duty.

They won't always be upfront about this with you but if know they're selling because they want to retire, that opens you up to different options vs if they're an investor just selling for profit.