My Path to Early “Retirement” with Rental Properties
If you’ve been a reader of the blog for a while, then you already know the basic outlines of my origin story in real estate investing: facing burnout from (and existential questions about) my career as a retail industry executive, and desperately craving greater freedom and flexibility in my life, I sold the condo I had lived in for 12 years, used the proceeds to buy 16 cash-flowing rental properties in Memphis, and quit my career.
I’ve also written about how I chose to invest in Memphis, the types of neighborhoods where I buy my houses, and details on the most recent house I acquired. I’ve shown how rental properties beat stocks, and I’ve even criticized the FIRE movement for largely overlooking rental properties as the fastest path to financial independence. (See What the FIRE Movement Gets Wrong.)
But I’ve never pulled all those threads together into a single cohesive story. That’s why I was really excited at the chance to author a recent guest on the site of a blogging friend of mine, Craig at RetireBeforeDad.com. His blog focuses mainly on personal finance, investing strategies, and saving for retirement. His personal goal is to retire at an earlier age than his father did, hence the name of the site.
In this guest post, I trace the story from my last (dismal) office job through the present day, weaving together both the “why” AND the “how” of my rental property investing strategy. I also provide a glimpse into what life looks like for me now, and the projects I’ve been working on recently. I even wade into the controversy of the word “retire”, and whether this is an appropriate term to use for someone like me. (Spoiler alert: I don’t really care what you call it, so long as I never have to set an alarm clock.)
Please head over to RetireBeforeDad to check out the full article! The button below will take you there.
