On the other hand, if she needs casn from the sale to support her lifestyle, then an installment sale that gives her a monthly income over several years may just be the solution she needs.

So it would seem a group of investors would be beneficial, such as Lifestyles Unlimited Inc.

Hi Chad,Go with the option that best fits your lifestyle and income needs. 

I loved the CA lifestyle, but I would never be able to acquire the number of units and properties I had in mind as a local investor and leverage my knowledge to the utmost.

Either downsize from your lifestyle, get a better job, I don't know you, so maybe I'm out of line.

It sounds like ultimately this is a lifestyle question my wife and i need to answer.  

My goal is to live a nice lifestyle and only work a few hours each week.

One of the best things my wife and I ever did was not trading up the house (and our lifestyle in general) during those years for us.

I have a success story to share with you all, since I have learnt so much from this community and everyone here has been so helpful in my real estate journey.I started my journey about 1.5 years back, read a bunch of books, used to religiously listen to the Bigger Pockets podcast.

I think it will be a few more years before my rentals can fully fund my lifestyle, but every month that mortgage goes down, and I'm one step closer:) I'm also thinking about tapping into my ROTH, and perhaps starting the trad-IRA to Roth-IRA conversion as a way to help jump start FI.