Updated about 3 hours ago on . Most recent reply
Late to the party - trying to figure out how best to get started in REI
First post - please be gentle!
I'm certain this sort of thing has been asked and answered, but everyone's situation is a little different, and a lot of the standard advice is for younger investors or those with more...residential flexibility?
I'm 55. My wife and I own our home outright. Our children are out of the house, our credit is excellent, and we have significant liquid assets (cash and brokerage) - more than $200k. On a 10-year time horizon, I'd like to figure out the best way to transfer _some_ of that capital into between 4 and 6 multifamily properties (quad and tri), thus securing passive income into our retirement, with assets we can transfer to our children. Sounds great, right?
My dilemma is, how best to start so I don't artificially limit my rate of growth/acquisition, and also don't drain all liquid assets chasing REI. I'm on board with leveraged purchases but, in my area (filled with 100+ year old quads and duplexes), that's $55-75k cash outlay per property with conventional lending - cash will drain quickly if I'm just coming out of pocket for each purchase. Depending on cash flow to get to the next down plus rehab outlay will take way, way longer than I have to invest or, potentially, exist on this planet. Obviously, the reality could be a mix (some out of pocket, some cash flow), but the delay between purchases seems like it might be...longer than a ten year plan will accommodate.
Our house is not amenable to "hacking" and we can't (legally/ethically) pursue any of the sweet FHA loans with tiny down payments unless one of us wants to move out of the house for a period of time...I've actually considered that. Actually, for me, the holy grail of leverage would be a VA loan (I'm a veteran) but, again, I'd have to change my address, which my wife might not appreciate :D
That seems to leave some flavor of BRRRR as an option to generate capital for acquisitions beyond property #1.
TL;DR
I have cash on hand, but I'm too old and chicken to dump it all on multiple properties and hope for the best. How would YOU go about keeping a safety net of cash assets in the market while building a portfolio of 4-6 multi properties over 10 years.
What am I missing? I'm sure it's a lot. Thank you in advance for your insight!