No rat race for me and I'm not worried about pleasing others.

We were able to get 5 acres which is what we wanted and are in the slow process of turning it all into pasture for horse boarding and training.

I haven't really got into the conversion options, mostly because I don't want to be limited by the size of the existing structure since most of my homes are from a century ago with a 1-car garage the size of a model T or horse buggy, if I'm lucky.

I haven’t found a CPA (nor have I tried that hard yet to find one in California) that can give good real estate tax strategy advice for a highly compensated W2 earner that is trying to get ahead of the rat race with smart real estate investing.

Slow but steady wins the race.

The market I'm in seems to have really become a race to the bottom so I struggle during the few slower months.

There was extensive work, but the home was in a good area surrounded by multi-million dollar horse farms.

It's a game that teaches you how to escape the rat race.

Hi Joe,My aunt and uncle used to rent their cottage on Horse Head Lake to students at Ferris.

I think a wise choice would be to buy a duplex, live in half, rent out the other and let your tenant make your house payment, you can ask your banker about getting an FHA loan and you only have to put 3.5% down, make sure its cashflow positive, buy the crummiest house in a great area, fix it up and you're off to the races!