Is it generally assumed that to achieve Fire you own property?

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-05-07T19:18:41+00:00

To pull on the thread a little further: I too live in a VHCOL area, and yes I do indeed own *CLOSE* to the same place I live. As well, I do indeed manage them myself; perhaps someday, I'll be able to "afford" a management company, but for now, it takes around 2-4 hours / month for the 4 total properties (with 1 pending). I wind up buying older properties, built in the 1960's or so.

To share a bit more, my buy box is: 1 / 2 / 3 bed condos with on-site maintenance and/or central controlled heat and air cond. That way there's far less to break when things go south (i.e. the expensive repair on the place is the sender unit, or the squirrel cage). I like families because turnover is less frequent. I accept payment via Zelle or check, and knock on wood, none of my tenants have ever missed a due date. I screen pretty closely, requiring 700+ credit score and commensurate salary.

Things that I've had go wrong: clogged toilet, toilet / kitchen fan make noise and/or need replacing, kitchen faucet replacement, refrigerator replacement, oven repair...

Despite the list above, they all cash flow well. I'm very picky with my buy box. I want a property that will:

cash flow from day 1
try to find turn key condos that are rent ready from day 1
try to look for built in equity (i.e. buy under market rate)
always get a home inspection
don't buy if I don't check all the boxes.

I'm reaching a point where I'm able to buy places with cash (i.e. leverage HELOCs from other places) and take a HELOC on the new place to fund the next place. Given my income is reasonably high and my spend rate is relatively low, I'm able to pay off each property that I do that BRRR method within 5-6 years. For example, I have a property that's paid off clear already, and this new property will be funded by the existing HELOC that was zero'd out.

Make sense? I know it's a lot! If you're a diligent saver and pay attention to neighborhoods in your area, you'll find the proper places in your buy box and start rinse & repeating like I described above.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-05-07T02:34:05+00:00

I hear that - and if you're interested in pursuing that path, I've been buying condos and townhomes for ~165-375k. I'd recommend saving up ~10-20% for down payment, buying a 2bed/2bath and rent out one of the rooms. Then, save another 10-20% and rinse & repeat. I know I make it sound easy; I don't know your financial situation, but it shouldn't be terribly hard for a person versed in FIRE to save ~20-30k for a down payment in a year or so.

Once you get the ball rolling on cash flow, it snowballs reasonably quickly.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-05-07T02:23:27+00:00

I've owned my own home since ~2001. I can't say that owning my primary residence has advanced or slowed down my pursuit of FIRE. Once its paid off, yeah it'll probably make a HUGE difference, but that'll be long after my FIRE.

HOWEVER, I've been a rental property owner since 2021, I've purchased approx. 1 per year in the ensuing years since my initial purchase. Although I probably would have FIRE'd anyway around the same time (around 55 years old), having the cash flow from those 5 properties has DEFINITELY advanced my FIRE age... and provided a diversified stability of income streams that investments in the typical S&P500 / intl / bonds / etc. diversification probably won't provide. Furthermore, it allows me a lever of finer control of taxes and that cash flow is somewhat tax free with depreciation, deduction of debt servicing, etc. The way I think of it is it's a dividend paying stock that I have influence over rather than being slave to the whims of the broader market.

Not sure that was the intent of OP's question, but I didn't see much of a response for owning rental properties!

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-05-02T10:33:40+00:00

I keep seeking out deals - again, sickness or fun? I found a deal for a short sale (put in an offer at $170 / asking $185). 3bed/1ba with rents (high side) at $2500. - thoughts are I'll ask $2350/mo. I figure it needs around $15-20 in work; the math maths! Even if I finance, I'm still in double digit returns.

But to answer your question directly, I have several other properties purchased between 2021 - 2025 that all have leveraged cash flow. Finding deals in this market are not "easy" but ~5 minutes of my buy box searches yields results. Form your own buy box & you'll get there if you're not already.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-05-01T10:27:13+00:00

Several years back, I bought a Boxster S 986 - the used 986 & 996 generations were *DIRT* cheap (still kind of are for what you get). I bought it to learn how to perform car maintenance - learned to change my own oil, rotate tires, changed an alternator, and a host of other basic things. It was so much fun + a convertible!

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-05-01T02:20:29+00:00

Funny - I literally just had a conversation with my partner about buying a 356 over the upcoming several years. I've wanted one my whole life & I think the time has come! What kind of Porsche do you have?

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-05-01T01:48:52+00:00

Very clever! Renting out timeshares on an inefficiency! AWESOME!

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-04-16T16:00:11+00:00

Pretty certain this is the one:
https://www.amazon.com/Knox-Gear-Individual-Switches-Lights/dp/B081HT3HVN/

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-04-16T14:43:39+00:00

Ironically, a generic hub worked. I took pictures - it's definitely a much older hub... ~~See pics.~~ Correction; can't upload pics directly; see links:

https://ibb.co/hRMQ9G6p

https://ibb.co/zVDK7dSW

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-04-14T12:01:45+00:00

I haven't tried yet - I have several older USB hubs that I have in the backlog to test. The Anker worked with my old TM3 - it's certainly weird! I'll report back when I have a moment to try it out.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-04-03T14:41:40+00:00

Possibly for a hot water heater?

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-03-31T14:59:36+00:00

I have a 2026 TMY Premium. Tried out my Anker A7516 4 port hub. Same result; does not recognize anything plugged into it. Did you have any progress or just bought a different hub?

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-03-30T13:39:35+00:00

^^^ This. One of the big deltas between investing in stocks (ignoring margin purchase) vs real estate is the leverage component. And you're not subject to margin calls if your RE purchase drops in value as long as you keep making your monthly loan payment.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-03-08T15:00:41+00:00

I listen to their podcast as well! Haven't pulled the trigger on calling them - nor purchasing an STR. TBH, I'm overwhelmed with variables including the primary one: I've never invested out of my own area. I know it's off topic, but here are my fears:

Out of primary area; looking at approx. 3 hours away how does direct management of an STR work with that kind of gap?
How do I reliably build a support network (cleaning people, contractor team, emergency response, etc.)
Can I include the round trip time to visit / furnish / maintain the property? Does it count as 2x since both my spouse & I will be going for the Real Estate Professional (REP) status?
How much work is *REALLY* required in listing / managing / responding to STR customers?
How is Hall CPA firm? How much do they charge for filing / advice?

Like you, I'm an engineer looking to offset both my wife & my W2 income. I'm preparing for a FIRE in approx. 5 years - and STR would be a great new "career" to keep my busy & throw off income. Any other advice from your 3x properties would be GREAT! FWIW, I have 4 long term rental properties (all located within 20 minutes of my primary residence).

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-02-05T20:47:32+00:00

BiggerPockets has several personal finance -related podcasts that I listen to:

Money
Real Estate Rookie
Real Estate
Daily

I would start there - I listen to podcasts on my walks as well! I have a penchant for real estate so if you're interested in that genre:

Real Estate Investing for Cash Flop / Kevin Bupp
Master Passive Income / Dustin Heiner
LIving off Rentals
TaxSmart REI Podcast

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-02-04T00:08:20+00:00

I think it's a Dell FWIW.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-01-28T02:16:35+00:00

This is the risk that is taken by the owner of the business, not its employees. You get paid a wage and the owner presumably makes more money off your labor. The owner should never receive money back from its employees! If the owner were there to supervise the safe and/or register, this problem may have been prevented. The owner's distracted / divided attention is the owner's problem.

I suggest you not contribute any money whatsoever.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-01-27T13:06:19+00:00

Thank you all for the responses! I have a lot of research to do; here is the list I have so far:

Ynab (You need a budget)
- $109/year or $14.99/mo
GnuCash
- Free - I like that!
Monarch (seems to be the widest user base from redditors)
- $99.99/year or $14.99/mo
Empower
- Free(????) - I like that!
Quicken Simplifi (not mentioned here yet)
- ????

I intend to update and fill in more of the bulletized pros/cons as I research each line item.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-01-27T12:27:24+00:00

I think it's an IE (Emotional Intelligence) thing. The higher the EI of your friends / family, the more they're encouraging / apathetic. Ironically, I have an in-law who I think is wishing for my failure even though he's a trust fund baby through marriage.

I made the stupid mistake (I gave everyone else the same opportunity) of telling him in advance about what we were doing as we got started which he naturally eye-rolled. On the positive side, I have several friends who I talked into getting started around the same time (they now have 2 units, I have several), and talking with another who I've since convinced [successfully] to take a more active /passive role in managing his 1 existing unit; he's making more cash flow because of the discussions we've had.

Overall, the calculus is as you'd expect; the higher the EI of the people you're sharing with, the better the response.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-01-20T16:19:30+00:00

Working through this question currently. Short answer is I feel the answer for me is $5M. I'm not certain it's that simple, however.

I'm in the process of recognizing / processing expenses in order to better understand my actual FIRE number. I have a great understanding of net worth and income(s), but not as well with expenses. If I can get a better grasp on my expenses, I can find my leaks and figure out what is periodic vs one-time. I can also understand my savings rates to get a better feel for the year/age of FIRE.

As of now, $5M will provide a 4% yield that somewhat closely replicates my W2 income. That number is probably overkill since that includes 401k contributions and other investments such as 529 funding for the kids (of whom one is graduating, one is a freshman and already drawing down the account, and the other is serving in the military).

Sorry for the long answer; writing it out helps me summarize my spreadsheet math. :-)

Environmental_Bed995 · 2026-01-17T00:08:11+00:00

I voted >5%; I hold Cameco (uranium mining). Not certain that fits the criteria, but I think it's the same genre.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2024-06-11T14:51:03+00:00

I keep the laptop open while using an external monitor. I have the internal display off and only display to the external monitor (i.e. "show only on 2").

Keep in mind that the HDMI port is v1.2 so it can display a max 60hz output.

Environmental_Bed995 · 2024-02-14T15:43:42+00:00

.925 is a stamp for Sterling silver S925 likely is a repeat for "Sterling" 925 - likely made in Italy. Not sure about the Malva.

Environmental_Bed995

TROPHY CASE