Talking with an aquaintance the other day She told me they (her & husband) were getting ready to retire and were going to get rid of a rental that I had asked about years ago.

I would do my best to keep those tenants long term raise the rent every so often and be sure that the maintenance was done so I could count on this house being a considerable portion of my retirement.

My goal has always been to acquire buy and hold rentals to setup a good retirement, but now that I have been reading BiggerPockets, I would like to see how far I can take it.

I've just left the big employer (too young to call it retirement!)

More research revealed owner is elderly and currently lives in a retirement village about 50 miles away.

Buying real estate within your own retirement account is another option to a loan/withdrawal, as long as done within the rules of the tax code and you have a custodian for your self directed retirement account that will invest it that way for you.  

Additionally, many sellers in this retirement/second home market own their properties free & clear of mortgages and have room to market and negotiate aggressively.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-california-high-housing-prices-20160414-story.htmlThe California Association of Realtors has predicted a mass exodus out of the Bay Area this year, either to more affordable surrounding counties (Sacramento and the Central Valley) or out of California all together:http://la.curbed.com/2016/3/4/11161626/california-housing-costs-migrationBoomers who are sitting on a ton of equity realize they can move out of the Bay Area to retire to live like a king somewhere in the Midwest and purchase their house cash, and Millennials are entering their prime "settle down" years and think $650k for a 1950's tract home is a joke and they can't afford it even if they wanted it.But, they can move to Sacramento and buy a $350k remodeled home in a nice area with great school districts and raise their newborn children.

I am hoping to turn it into income that I am able to put away for retirement and mainly for my children's education.

See the following: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-prohibited-transactions