I upgraded to PRO because I thought it was a small price to pay for all the information that BP has been able to offer.I was in the mortgage business for about 10 years before the crash so I have a little bit of insight but so many things have changed.I am basically looking to set myself up for retirement.

Currently renting a condo.I am reading Rich Dad and Retire Rich with Rentals and really excited to get this all started.

I want to retire early with investment rentals but I won't ever be able too if I don't start.

I, like you, realized that being in the medical field is not what I see myself retiring from when I get old and gray.

We also had skilled contractors who volunteered, one was the retired city building inspector.

I have a friend that his mother has around 900k in investments ( stock market, retirement and savings account)  and owns no real estate. 

Ultimately when I no longer want to be a Realtor and also manage my individual California properties (semi-retire), will hopefully have a large chunk of equity to 1031 into larger multifamily somewhere.Or style?  

I recently decided to start investing in real estate as a secondary source of income and retirement planning.  

Ultimately, we want to "semi" retire in the Clearwater area in 5-10 years (hopefully) so we thought one option is to purchase some rentals there now so that when we do move we will have local investments that we can manage ourselves.  

There is always opportunity somewhere at some time you just have to find it and exploit it.I talk to investors constantly all over the country and everyone has a different take on things and how they want to live now and what retirement means to them.