Hi! After some major life changes, I have plunged head-first into REI. I went to a couple of local workshops and decided that buying and flipping was too big of a place for me to begin (maybe in the future, I'm not ruling anything out). And after deciding that buying a B&B by the beach somewhere to put my new culinary degree to work would be too confining, I decided to use that money to create passive income. Also, fine dining kitchens are way too volatile for me ;-)

I've been reading a lot of forum posts and definitely plan to seek the advice of a real estate tax advisor but maybe with all the experience floating around there, y'all could give me some food for thought in the meantime. Here's some info about me...

-My goal is to build a passive net monthly income of $4k/month by the end 2022.

-I have an excellent credit rating, decent IRA (which I refuse to touch), $150k savings

-I have never had a mortgage or loan and applied for my first credit card about two years ago. That's also when I became a US citizen. 

-I don't have official pay stubs. I'm not currently employed but I'm working on that. I'm having my resume rewritten but don't expect to earn more than $35k at a regular job (but I need some decent health insurance). I'm also half way through my realtor's course but keep thinking that being a realtor may not be for me as a career but possibly worth doing if I want to keep doing REI.

-After my divorce, I was saddled with a million dollar house that I was finally able to sell at an unfortunate loss. There was no way for me to keep it, the monthly bills and taxes were crazy. I couldn't even afford the HOA. I also sold a fancy Mercedes. Then I bought a townhouse (cash) and bought a used mini cooper (cash), so I have no payments with the exception of my taxes, insurance, HOA and small monthly bills. My plan was that even if I had to work a minimum wage job, I would have a roof over my head that nobody could take away.

-I have 4 more years of decent spousal support. I have been trying to live on very little of it and banking as much as possible to put into more properties. I have worked part time cooking but took the summer off due to some short term health problems. 

-I bought my first property in June 2017 for $119,500 (cash) and rent it for $1250. I feel like the insurance is high ($1200) and would be open to feedback on that. The monthly cash flow is $700.

-I have put in offers on about another 10 properties but here in Houston, if I can find something in my price range that isn't flooded, there are a a ton of offers. 

-I currently have a cash offer of $115K on a property that is looking promising, and anticipate a monthly cash flow of $800.

-Once I start working, I think I could afford 4 cash properties over the next 4 years.

-I use a property management company.

-Worst case scenario--I have figured if I can get 7 properties (assuming I've paid cash for them all) by the time my spousal support runs out, while I won't live like a queen, I will be okay, even if I haven't made a career for myself or have to work a minimum wage job.

I've been reading how I shouldn't be paying cash for these properties, which totally makes sense. On the other hand, I'm 46 years old and I don't have 30 years to wait to produce an income which can support me. Is there a better strategy I should be considering for a 5 year plan? Again--I don't want to touch my IRA.

I feel like this has been a serious over-share but I have one shot at this and I don't want to mess it up, so I'm very open to comments, suggestions, advise and feedback--go easy on this newbie :-) I need to make my current money work for my future. And I'm looking forward to learning more about this all. Thanks!