Trading My Investment in Rental Property

by H J Butler
(Austin, Texas)

Having not been mathematically inclined in school, I did not understand leverage, rate of return for investment in rental property and what growing your money really meant. But I had always been told that I would be good at selling real estate.

So finally I took the brokers exam. The maths was awful. But I passed. In my lucrative selling career, I ran across many "deals".

My first one was a small house that someone had bought on the G.I. bill with $1200 out of pocket. They wanted out to move to California. I gave them the money they paid for it and closed the deal. It happened to be in a neighborhood that was easy to rent.

I did many other far more creative deals and I now have 4 small rental houses, an 32 unit apartment building I exchanged 4 houses for and a strip center.

Having retired 5 years ago, I am contemplating selling the houses to pay off the apartment and shopping center loan. That will increase my cash flow and reduce my PMT. Even in tough times, I should be fine.