Mainly because so many of us on this website are significantly younger than retirement age. 

I bet you don't have any friends who want to do this at your age so when you tell people about your dreams they say it's crazy.

@Dayton Bishop It's great to hear you are taking interest in real estate at such a young age but based on what you shared, you're not in a position to own real estate.

In your opinion, do you think as long as everything passes inspection I still should be okay given the age of the system?

There's well over a 1 Million bed shortage right now, and due to the aging 77 Million boomers, the demand for assisted living will continue to outpace supply by over 3.5X.

(especially if you have not yet reached an age that will allow you to withdraw funds without penalty).

What they want to invest in and why is very specific to the individuals goals and age in life.Someone might be worth 100 million and own no NNN and want to be ultra safe for their first one and go Chick Fil A with long term lease.

I have two friends who own rental properties and they are successful with their properties, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad twice along with Rental Property Investing and Power of Habit, I've been told by multiple people apart of the Baby Boomer and Generation X that they wish they invested in Real Estate at my age, I was a Resident Advisor at my University and I enjoyed that role so some of the skills are transferrable, and lastly this is the best time for me to take a risk.

Can't speak to the organization in Michigan but generally the benefits of a well run STRA far outweigh the costs.I am a property manager in Hawaii so we are constantly being hit with new anti-STR legislation and have a large, well-funded hotel lobby to deal with constantly.

If you are retirement age, you can do asset based withdraws from "work related funds" (IRAs/401ks...).