One thing to keep in mind is that this could be with 'cash' or 'retirement funds' (we already were investing with out own retirement funds so were familiar with this).

. - likely two 3BR/2BA units).Both would be managed remotely, though we have a lot of family in the potential STR market (retired parent who could help) and we could use the STR unit ourselves for 1-2 weeks per year.

Here are some more resources with other investors sharing their experiences that might be useful to read:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/518583-feedback-on-renttoretirement-and-zach-lemasterhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/users/ZacharyCole/referenceshttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/765347-rent-to-retirement-reviewhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/44/topics/1058814-first-time-with-new-construction-cape-coral-fl?

Those of us who worked for a number of years before starting often have more capital, plus often more wisdom and more connections than people that start in their 20s.I retired last year, three years after my wife and over a decade after we started investing in real estate.  

My situation is that I would either buy with my retirement accounts or finance with an asset based lender.

As an owner-only business retirement plan, the Solo 401(k) has higher contribution limits, allowing you to build your savings on the front end as well as providing investment flexibility.

If you bought it to be a long-term hold, retirement property in 20 years, you still should be able to have it contribute to that in the long-term, so it may be worth it to hold it out.

For instance a personal residence that may have lots of equity, savings account , retirement account, a business that is own by property owner, etc.

However we are at the point in our life where the decisions we make now will establish and shape our financial future/retirement, and so it’s time to “pick something and go all in”.

I emptied the majority of a small retirement account and took advantage of a second home loan with 10% down.