James Barnhart

My wife and I retired from our jobs because we developed several sources of income. I am also retired from serving in the US Navy and US Coast Guard. I bought my first rental SFR as a single guy in 1978, when I was able to just assume a VA or FHA mortgage without qualifying. I sold one with a wrap around mortgage. After many years and many houses later, we are now retired and enjoying our life on a lake with our kids and grandkids. Real estate has been a great money maker, except for the one mistake I made. I formed a corp and bought a restaurant and lounge property. Shortly afterward, the business owners failed and went out of business, leaving me with no cash flow. That was a lesson I never forgot. Real Estate Goals: We miss the years 2009 to 2017. Those were the easy days. We made money in RE in several different ways then. Those days are over. So, we have stopped looking for more properties. We enjoy our family and friends, and are no longer actively seeking properties. In 2023, we moved to the Ocala, Fl area from DeLand, Fl, to be nearer to kids and grand kids We see a lot of fix and flip opportunities, but we are retired and love it. We still look at RE homes now.