I don't want to work for someone else until I'm 65 and end up like my dad who is 63 and hoping the stock market will not mess up his retirement. 

It all depends on how much income you're making now, how much you intend to be making in retirement and how you can best use your current resources, and what your plans for the future are.  

@Drew Markert: ~10 years from now, I hope to of transitioned to a full "hold" position and be able to retire a little early, or at the very least, afford my vacation/future retirement home with the profits/income, if things go well.  

Long term goals are to produce more income for when i retire and to eventually be able to quit my job and focus full time on investing. 

I started with these two companies because I've heard a lot of great things about them over many posts and their respective CEO's have contributed greatly to many posts here at BP.Birmingham looks promising, population growth (while minimal) seems stable, lots of new economic activities and projects developing that will help spark the economy.Dallas/Houston surrounded by great companies however Im afraid it might be harder to find properties in these markets that have been quite hot for sometime now.

I retired from newspaper publishing a few years ago.

If you can afford to pay the money back and it is a non-retirement account, you could check to see if your broker offers loans against your assets. 

@Charlie MacPherson I'm just starting to learn about Plymouth, and realize that it seems to be a stable rental market.

We are looking to retire in the next 3 years and are trying to get them paid off for maximum cash flow.

The owner is 81 years old and he is planning to retire once he sells this last property.