Our landlords seem very fair and are looking to retire. 

Dont worry after you make your millions you can always come back to retire here.  

I recently retired from a job in chemistry and I want to start flipping houses but I don't have enough money to get anyone's attention.

A family of 6 with 2 two pets is a carpet lifecycle shortener compared to a single widow in her 60s who spends most of her retirement on cruises.Cleaning: I've noticed that regular professional cleaning really extended carpet life, even with the turnover impact, compared to my messier long-term tenants.

Lately, we've been marketing directly to "mom and pop" owners who want to retire.

And I expect it to fill 1/2 of the Library of Congress by the time I retire. 

You can add funds in your IRA either by making new contribution which as you stated is limited to $5,500/yr or by transfer from another qualified retirement account. 

Multiple real estate properties would do that, while also helping our retirement plans. 

I'm right on track to being able to retire and be financially free with my family in 2 more years. 

While working two jobs brings me a pretty crazy income compared to the average Columbian, you can imagine it sucks up a lot of my free time; and frankly, I've really always dreamed of being my own boss and retiring early to do something fun like fixing up junky houses.