I have the required $50k downpayment in the bank, but I'd much rather pay $30k myself and supplement the $20k balance, which leaves me with $20k in the bank to fund another house. 

I would recommend that you utilize your father knowledge with his knowledge of the local market and use BP to supplement that knowledge. 

I have helped thousands of RE investors clients get business credit for RE investing since it's a great option for people looking to get started in RE, it's also great supplement for the seasoned investor looking to do more deals.

While I use Evolve and they send their emails for checkin, I supplement theirs with my own Mailchimp campaigns that provides further info on their stay at my propertyies  All of this is powered by an automation engine I built using a free service called Automate.io that leverages my Google calendar to send tailored emails to my guests throughout their stay and automatically notifies my housekeeper of new and updated bookings.At this point, barring a broken toilet or something, I only have to spend about 4 minutes on each of my bookings

Income from fiancee can be added after that point, assuming bottom line of 20k/yr, in 1 year(-5k for loans) I will save ~24k and then use traditional financing for future investments not using more than 50% of $$ saved to ensure there is a cushion for my first property.2) Wait it out for 6 mos and build up some capital(200/mo*6=1200 saved, not much), then follow plan 1, bank around 24k after 1.5 years.3) Wait even longer , say 1 yr, and start out with ~12k saved, hopefully better credit and qualify for better loan terms.Those are my 3 choices right now, I want to start ASAP while the market is down and money is cheap, long term I would like to buy more multi's, maybe a few SFR's and do a few fix-and-flips in between to build up enough to supplement my W2 job with rental income and retire early.So the question is: Should I start now?

I am 55, tired of my career in the oil & gas business and want to supplement my retirement (hope to retire in 5 or 6 years) with passive income from real estate investments.We came to this site via a recommendation from a good friend who has been a member for approximately a year and gave raving reviews of the site and how much it has helped him in his real estate business.We are looking to invest in single family homes or 2, 3, 4 or 5 plex apartments in the Bakersfield area and really have no idea on where to begin.

She's 76 now and it's free and clear and supplementing her retirement very nicely.

I use Excel pretty much exclusively but am getting the need for some supplemental software to keep track of Business Cards, Invoices, PM Reports, Receipts, etc...

Also, would anyone recommend creating a website to supplement the above?

.- (Already mentioned) Car port or equivalent, charge supplemental rent to existing tenants for the dedicated spot(s)- Run utilities and pour a pad, turn it into an RV spot & charge by the night.- Site a tiny house or (2) and rent it AirBnB- Lease the land to a billboard company- Lease the land to a satellite or antenna company where they can put antenna's on your yard.- Coordinate with neighbor for their potential needs (direct lease to them)- Coordinate with neighbor for access to improve market value of your dog-leg parcel- Donate the land to the local garden club to improve the aesthetics and drive higher rents.