Hi All,Newbie here. 55 yr old planning to retire in 2 years, learning about real estate investing in order to have a source of steady inflation-proof cashflow (in addition to stock dividends) prior to taking social security at age 70 - so I don't need to sell stock investments.

I own 5 franchise locations and am up to my eyeballs.

Do NOT do the inspections prior to being under contract.Make sure you give yourself some better timelines, such as “earnest money is fully refundable until 30 days after all 3rd party inspection reports are completed."

These connections go back to a prior business before I was actively investing in real estate but it has worked out well now that I’m busily buying multi family properties.

@Nicole HeasleyIt is in a lump sum prior to purchase.

To your point, I was recently looking at Oklahoma City and Huntsville as potential locations and they looked promising. 

Location Location Location - We buy rentals in great areas that we believe will have growth. 

I am an investor in the Sedalia market we handle both buy & hold and rental properties both are good in this area depending on what you have location and end goals.

Adding keywords related to your investment strategy or market locations can be updated in your settings.

Start local is what I tell most, regardless of where they are.I personally started with low money down here in San Diego and have been slowly trading up for multifamily properties in better locations for higher long term appreciation.