Financially naked newbie seeking REI strategy recommendations

[Andrea Cole]

Goals in priority order: 1) Cash Flow; 2) Income replacement ($150k/yr to end of life); 3) Legacy for 3 children

Age: 57; retire from corporate in 5-7 years

Location: Austin, TX

Investment Stats:

2 SFH owned outright; value $240k each; LTR $1600/mo each; cash flow $950/mo each

1 SFH just bought; value $264k; loan $180k; STR - rentals will cover PITI/expenses; not sure about cash flow yet

1 SFH (residence); value $650k; loan $385k

Maxed out for conventional loans based on income to debt ratio; doubtful could get another loan through traditional big bank

Cash-like assets:

401k value: $200k; loan max is $50k; can start drawing in 2.5 years

Stock value $300+

Experience: Buy and hold only

If you were in this position, what strategy would you use to best meet the financial goals laid out by leveraging existing assets to build a solid RE portfolio?

Thanks for the review and thoughtful consideration given all of the info provided. We are frozen with "What do we do now"?

Andrea (and Brad)

[Nathan Gesner]

@Andrea Cole Start with your goal and work backwards.

You need $150,000 per year to maintain your lifestyle. That's $12,500 a month. You currently make about $3,000 a month from rentals so you have a long way to go.

If you buy a single-family home that cash flows $250 then you would need 36 homes to meet your monthly requirement.

If you buy a four-plex and each unit cash flows $100 then you would need 23 units or eight four-plexes to meet your goal.

You could also buy a single 24-unit apartment complex and meet your goal.

Or you can do a mixture of property types. The point is,  you need to acquire more properties to meet your income requirement. If you have a $4,000 retirement pension then you can add that to your income and now you only need $5,000 more in cash flow.