Hi. This is my first post here, so I wanted to introduce myself. This seems like a great forum. Tons of interesting info and ideas. Hopefully I won't annoy people with my naivete about some of the terms and concepts of investing, because I have a LOT to learn.
I'm a 38 year old married father of two boys, who turn 6 and 2 this spring. I have a good job that I still find rewarding, and it pays well. The problem is that it eats all my time, and I have come to realize that this is the most precious commodity I have. I want to spend it with my family and pursuing my hobbies (music).
Next week, we complete our first baby step towards financial freedom. We are paying the final 5,000.00 or so on the mortgage of our primary residence. We knocked it out in 2.5 years, by putting an initial 20k chunk on it, then paying 3,000.00 extra every month. The mortgage was for 126,000 (houses in the suburbs of Dallas, where I live, are still cheap).
So, with that out of the way, here's our basic plan.
1) Take the 3k/month we were using to pay down our mortgage, and the 1200.00 monthly payment we no longer have to make and save like crazy.
2) When we have 20%, buy another single family home. In this area, 3 bed/2bath, 1500 sq feet can be had for about 130k. So, 26k down, 104 financed.
3) Rent it out. Rent more or less neutralizes mortgage, insurance, taxes.
4) Apply the 4200/mo we now have to the mortgage, and knock it out in a little under 2 years. The rent is now unlocked and becomes income.
5) Save like crazy, buy property #3, apply 4200+rent from property #2 to it, and go even faster. And so on, until we have enough income from the rents to no longer need the day job.
Obviously, we'll have to take about a month per year off from the extra payments to pay property taxes and insurance, but that's the basic plan.
At least initially, we will be using a property mgmt company to handle the renting mostly due to lack of time and knowledge.
It will take quite a bit of discipline to keep plowing all that money into our long term plans, but we've made it through the first 2.5 years, and I feel confident that we've developed the habit now. It seems like a good time to be getting into this, with house prices low, interest rates low, and a lot of people who have been foreclosed upon who would probably prefer renting a single family home to an apartment.
Any feedback on our plan from more knowledgable folks (that's probably 100% of people on this forum!) is MASSIVELY appreciated! Thanks in advance!
I'm a 38 year old married father of two boys, who turn 6 and 2 this spring. I have a good job that I still find rewarding, and it pays well. The problem is that it eats all my time, and I have come to realize that this is the most precious commodity I have. I want to spend it with my family and pursuing my hobbies (music).
Next week, we complete our first baby step towards financial freedom. We are paying the final 5,000.00 or so on the mortgage of our primary residence. We knocked it out in 2.5 years, by putting an initial 20k chunk on it, then paying 3,000.00 extra every month. The mortgage was for 126,000 (houses in the suburbs of Dallas, where I live, are still cheap).
So, with that out of the way, here's our basic plan.
1) Take the 3k/month we were using to pay down our mortgage, and the 1200.00 monthly payment we no longer have to make and save like crazy.
2) When we have 20%, buy another single family home. In this area, 3 bed/2bath, 1500 sq feet can be had for about 130k. So, 26k down, 104 financed.
3) Rent it out. Rent more or less neutralizes mortgage, insurance, taxes.
4) Apply the 4200/mo we now have to the mortgage, and knock it out in a little under 2 years. The rent is now unlocked and becomes income.
5) Save like crazy, buy property #3, apply 4200+rent from property #2 to it, and go even faster. And so on, until we have enough income from the rents to no longer need the day job.
Obviously, we'll have to take about a month per year off from the extra payments to pay property taxes and insurance, but that's the basic plan.
At least initially, we will be using a property mgmt company to handle the renting mostly due to lack of time and knowledge.
It will take quite a bit of discipline to keep plowing all that money into our long term plans, but we've made it through the first 2.5 years, and I feel confident that we've developed the habit now. It seems like a good time to be getting into this, with house prices low, interest rates low, and a lot of people who have been foreclosed upon who would probably prefer renting a single family home to an apartment.
Any feedback on our plan from more knowledgable folks (that's probably 100% of people on this forum!) is MASSIVELY appreciated! Thanks in advance!