real estate/rental investing

[Esox]

Wife and I are looking to start investing in some real estate, etc and was wondering if there is anyone on here who either does it as their job or at least has a portfolio of real estate and rentals. Im not talking about guys that have 1 or 2, we are looking to eventually have a few. Just looking for someone to chat with, etc as we are new to it.

[ak77]

My guess is the opinion of the majority will be "not worth the hassle".

[sewerrat]

We had a rental for a few years and it was a PIA, sold the property during Covid, and best decision we did.

[eric2381]

If you buy your rental properties at the right time, you’ll make money off them. If you buy anything when the prices are high and headed down in the future, you’ll make less. Obvious I know, but it applies to buying and selling real estate as well as other investments.

You’ll make money off of rental properties. There will be some work and headaches. Work and headaches should be expected when you’re making extra money. There’s no free ride.

[Wes_G]

I assume I am not the candidate you are wanting to talk as the wife and I only have 1 but I do have a few thoughts and observations.

Most of the time it's pretty hassle free except for when it isn't. It seems like most of the time we head out of town for more than a night or 2 we get a message from one of the renters that something has broken/isn't working. It never fails that it happens at the least opportune times.

Finding good renters can be a real P.I.T.A. Especially if you are picky like we are. The last time that the basement suite was open it took us 7 months to fill it. There are so many people that schedule a viewing and don't show up but could also not be bothered to tell you that and you drive all the way across the city for a no show. We have got to the point that we just tell people we will be there at such a time on such a day and if they want to view it then show up, if it doesn't work for you then to bad.

I feel like having multiple rentals would be a full time job between maintenance, and finding renters. The last time the our place was up, we were seriously considering just putting it on the market and trying getting rid of it, I think it would be an alright retirement job though.

[jungleboy]

I don’t have a rental but every time I have talked to someone who does it’s not fun for them.
I drive around our neighbourhood and I can pick out every rental property. They never clean their sidewalks in the winter and they never cut the grass in the summer. If they won’t do those simple tasks I suspect they could care less about the rest of the property. It isn’t theirs so who cares.

[3blade]

I’m stuck with one I can’t get rid of, because it’s losing value faster than it’s being paid down. Can’t break even on the rent vs cost either so we’re also losing every month. Never intended it to be a rental but that’s life.

Buddy of mine does it as a business. He’s got 6. But he got in at stupid low interest rates, paid one off by working 100 hour weeks, and uses that rental income to finance all the extra costs that come up from the other ones, Ex: maintenance, missing months, damages etc. So it never impacts his personal cash flow. But that should tell you what it’s like. Yes you can make money eventually, depending on how lucky you get with market timing, but you need a lot to keep it afloat.

It’s a really bad idea if you are paying mortgages. If you can pay cash for a new build close to a major hospital, university, etc, then you are making good money off the hop but I know doctors that have seen their properties take a $100g nosedive and are stuck dealing with tenants for years longer than anticipated

Alberta is being governed into the ****ter. Not where I’d invest money.

[pikergolf]

REIT's

[roper1]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

REIT's

Agreed. To the OP, a very good rule of thumb is not to have too much money tied to one asset class. Real estate can be hard to move, and even harder to move at a profit if you don't like being a landlord. Good luck!

[Trochu]

My cousin has a residential property and it's been going great.
An acquaintance I know has one and it hasn't been going great.

Guess who is who:

A: Put it on the market, gave it to the first person that applied, 3 months later, and no actual rent payments, only the damage deposit, the owner was actually moving the tenet out and putting their stuff in the driveway while the tenet sat and watched, and then put it in a truck when everything was moved out.

B. Put it on the market and asked for credit check, references, background check, performed an interview, drivers licence, (I don't know exactly what was asked for, but it was alot, and fees were involved), etc., and said all the costs would be reimbursed to the selected renter. Had over two dozen people inquire, spent hours and hours evaluating the applications, then selected a tenet. No damage, rent is on-time, etc.

If you go residential, it can be a great way to build your assets, but it's not "buy a place, rent it out, collect a cheque every month" easy. I prefer commercial, but it obviously cost more to get into. Ag land is super easy, and essentially zero risk rental wise, but your return, while you own it, is going to be poor.

[Cement Bench]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

REIT's

and banks

NO SOUP OR RENTALS FOR YOU OR ME

[EZM]

I disagree with the consensus I guess .... lol .... we have a fair amount of real estate investments (a few duplexes, a couple fourplexes) and the income versus the maintenance and operating costs can generate a very strong return for you if you buy right, price right (into the market) and mitigate taxes and income properly.

Research, Research, Research ......... the math either works, or it doesn't. If your return is only 10%-15% year and you are leveraged at 5% it's probably the tipping point (as you can earn the differential in a much lower risk investment like a mutual fund).

[fishtank]

There are property maintenance company, they handle finding and screening the renters and maintenance usually charge 1 month rent and what ever the cost of maintenance … after all the fee and misc cost and raising interest you get better return on a reit , only thing you might missed out on the price appreciation of the house .

[ak77]

I was on the run when posted quick reply, but here's my scoop. Some of it was covered already.
1. Best tenant can turn into a nightmare after a bit when their life goes sideways. My brother rented his house when he moved to different city for work. Perfect tenants on the paper - working parents with kids, good references, letter from work... 6 months in the family fell apart, father moved out, now rent is still being paid but with delays and reminders, obviously care for the property went down...
2. Same brother bought investment property. Rented it out, 3 month in the tenant brought home inspector claiming a poopton of deficiencies, had to fix a few of them (granted it needed fixing to be up to code but by no means it was dangerous). 2 out of pocket tests for black mold and asbestos (both negative). Stopped paying, ignored eviction notices, took him to court claiming 75k of personal pain and suffering, drugged her kid in as an alleged asbestos sufferer. What saved my brother's skin was meticulous documenting of every single interaction, doing it all by the book. Having in-laws living 3 doors down also helped as anything that was a violation of contact was photographed and reported to him almost as it was happening (they tore down back fence to drug in a pos old RV, some questionable activity happening in the garage... ). In the end he only lost (as a good will gesture) 1/2 of the DD. Sold the house shortly after.

Tenants have more rights than you, and most if not all of them know it, and lots of them are willing to openly abuse it.
You have to be Jack of all trades for upkeep, or start paying to the trades people. You can probably claim it's back as a business expense but probably would rather not spend it in the first place.

Worst case scenario you're gonna get stuck with he house you can't sell paying for the people to live in it... Wherever said RAIT - i second it.

[-JR-]

Having a house rental is the best way to make your money work for you .
Buying the smallest house i find is the best . A small house rents for $1400 a month . And only 2 people will move into it .Perfect . Bigger house might get $1600 a month with 4 people moving in . 4 people cause more damage .
You might say $200 more a month is worth it . But you will also have higher bank payments , higher insurance , higher taxes, more sqft for repairs etc So in the long run you are losing on a bigger house.
A small house you can have rented out in one weekend as a larger house might take a month or two to rent out .
Finding a perfect renter is very hard . I find tradesmen are a good find. I find they keep a good clean house and yard and never late on payments .

If you really want to get into renting big time get into a shop or shops
For a house you can not lock someone out , if they stop making payments .
Shops you can lock some one out .

[Hooter]

Sorry for my ignorance on this, but what does RAIT stand for?

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Hooter

Sorry for my ignorance on this, but what does RAIT stand for?

REIT? They are traded on the stock market.

What are REITs? Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-producing real estate. A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets.

[Hooter]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

REIT? They are traded on the stock market.

What are REITs? Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-producing real estate. A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets.

Thanks! I just learned something new today!

[eric2381]

OP, you have asked a complex and personal question. Do you have anything more to contribute?

[Mistagin]

We were forced into having a rental property after the Ft. McMurray fire. Long story.

After repairing the house the first tenants we had were great. Never had a single issue or complaint over 1 1/2 years. They simply asked me to reimburse them for repairing a leaky kitchen tap. Always paid on time. They only moved out when they bought a house on the north side of town to be closer to work.
Second tenants, well, the one good thing I can say is they always paid the rent on time, and another is that they kept the grass cut and snow removed as needed. But literally complained about everything. Even wanted me to send someone over to replace burned out light bulbs!!! They also did some things that contributed to $60,000.00 in damage to the house.

We sold and will never do that again!

[Big Grey Wolf]

Had numerous rental property including commercial. Problem now is 'Best Tenants' will or will shortly own their own home. Had house by University, 1 ad and would get 30-40 applicants. Majority are live together for a few months type, things will change quickly. Wanted nice married couple with 1-2 children almost impossible to find.

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by ak77

I was on the run when posted quick reply, but here's my scoop. Some of it was covered already.
1. Best tenant can turn into a nightmare after a bit when their life goes sideways. My brother rented his house when he moved to different city for work. Perfect tenants on the paper - working parents with kids, good references, letter from work... 6 months in the family fell apart, father moved out, now rent is still being paid but with delays and reminders, obviously care for the property went down...
2. Same brother bought investment property. Rented it out, 3 month in the tenant brought home inspector claiming a poopton of deficiencies, had to fix a few of them (granted it needed fixing to be up to code but by no means it was dangerous). 2 out of pocket tests for black mold and asbestos (both negative). Stopped paying, ignored eviction notices, took him to court claiming 75k of personal pain and suffering, drugged her kid in as an alleged asbestos sufferer. What saved my brother's skin was meticulous documenting of every single interaction, doing it all by the book. Having in-laws living 3 doors down also helped as anything that was a violation of contact was photographed and reported to him almost as it was happening (they tore down back fence to drug in a pos old RV, some questionable activity happening in the garage... ). In the end he only lost (as a good will gesture) 1/2 of the DD. Sold the house shortly after.

Tenants have more rights than you, and most if not all of them know it, and lots of them are willing to openly abuse it.
You have to be Jack of all trades for upkeep, or start paying to the trades people. You can probably claim it's back as a business expense but probably would rather not spend it in the first place.

Worst case scenario you're gonna get stuck with he house you can't sell paying for the people to live in it... Wherever said RAIT - i second it.

When my in-laws had a rental, 3 houses down from where they lived, it was a nightmare. Most of the problems arose from the location, grubby part of Norwood and a 80 yr old house so your clientele starts at a bad point. They fixed it up nice but most renters left them with a few months rent owed after a midnight move out, always damages to the Lino, carpet and counters from cigarette holes etc and I can't count how many 8 ft truck box loads of left behind junk I had to haul to the dump for them. The only good thing was the house appreciated a bit and when they sold after the father in-law passed, mother in-law made a couple buck to the good.

Friends own houses to rent in better hoods and have better renters but still seem to have similar issues as mentioned in this thread.

I think having a rental is a good idea, just have to have some luck with the buy in, condition of the place and getting quality people in. Then put up with the crap side.

Good luck if you do.

[88thunderbird]

It's great if you find the right tenant. I'm not a big renter , just half my furnished basement , same renter since 2015 , they are 72 now.

I had single mom one time , place trashed , late rent constantly , Sherriff/repo coming to pick up cars , computers . did not even know how to change a lightbulb. Try to give them a break but in the end not good for business.

[Scott h]

I'm not a huge real estate investor, but I have had a few in both BC, and Alberta. Most tenants have been fine, but there are always some issues that arise. The last place that I owned (sold it last March thank God!) I rented out to physicians, and nurses doing locums. The timelines were a month up to 3 or 4 months. They usually were never at home long enough to do any damage, and they were gone on a specified date. Rental rate is higher than average, but there is more turn over to deal with.

[El Carnicero]

My wife and I have a detached rental that we own.

We've been in the game for only 2.5 year. So far our experience has been generally good/great.

Our first tenants were a learning experience. They lasted 20 days before we booted them. We bank that experience up to being inexperienced at noting how potential tenants can be manipulative to get into a place.
Luckily we had our ducks in a row with our documentation that was signed by the tenants upon move in and the Landlord Tennant board backed us up 100% on evicting them.
Long story short, we got them out no problem due to the fact we had them dead to rights with picture evidence and we witnesses their breach of agreement personally ourselves with multiple other eye witness accounts from neighbours.
The house required minimal repair (which I was able to do myself.) and cost us about $500 which we took from their damage deposit and a cleaning charge.

We have now had 2 sets of tenants since, they were/are both great and care for the home well. always let us know right away if there were maintenance issues and we have learned how to spot potential manipulators and risky tenants.

Here is my advice.

-If you are a Heart-On-Your-Sleeve type ppl- Lose that immediately. That does not mean bein a heartless slum lord, That mean, set your boundaries and recognize when someone is trying to take advantage. Not every renter is a manipulator, but there are a few that know how to use the system.

Every rental agreement for us starts with a month to month rental agreement. That way if they are crap tenants, you can more easily give them a 90 day notice to vacate. If we are happy with them after X number of months, we invite them to sign a longer term lease if they want.

-If you don't already have a property, search for one that is not upscale, but not a slum. You don't want everything new and flashy because it will get damaged and the no tenant will care for the place like you would care for it. If the place is functional and relatively clean, its acceptable for a rental. NOTE- If you can find a property in a half decent neighbourhood, and charge the right amount of rent for the area and for the home features it helps to weed out the crap tenants. Use Rentfaster.ca to see the rental costs around the area and set your price accordingly.

DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT- Make sure you have your tenants sign EVERYTHING!
Rentfaster.ca has a section of generic forms for landlords. Everything from basic monthly/ yearly agreements to non-smoking/cannabis clauses. they are generic and you can adjust them to your liking, but use them or something similar. DO NOT DO ANYTHING BY HANDSHAKE AGREEMENT.
These documents were what supported eviction of our first set of tenants as they had signed forms agreeing to certain conditions and then we found that they had misrepresented themselves as well as breached the greed upon conditions. When we contacted the LL Tenant Board for advice, they asked if they had signed the forms and that by doing so and breaching those agreements the tenant had no legs to stand on and that they could assist us without argument with removal by force if necessary.

Find a property in a neighbourhood with schools and decent shopping.- A family as a tenant is infinitely better than not. If they have kids, they need a school. Having that in the area makes your property more desirable, as well as giving you a longer term rental term. Worst part is having to put up the for-rent sign every year or less because of turn over. Small families with young kids tend to stay for longer periods of time. Yes, they will cause some damage as kids often do, but a good tenant, with a longer term and always better than constant turn over.

Renting to young adults- Bachlors/bachloettes- We learned this one from my MIL who has been a LL for a long time-
If you have college age adults wanting to rent your place, depending on the type, (Ours was a 5 Bdrm house) they will likely have room mates. If the total age of all the room mates equals 100 yrs old, you can probably feel safe that they will not destroy the place. There is likely one of the room mates who will act as some kind of home manager. Making sure that his other roommates don't do brainless things or cause stupid damage, or they will be the ones to collect the rent and turn it over to you. Again though, that is based on their maturity level and required a lot of good judgment

-Use social media to your advantage- We don't ask for social media handles, but we do look up the applicants name on FB and Instagram to see what we can find. We have weeded out many potentials without ever having to meet them based on they type of ppl we are looking for to occupy our property. As well we have also corroborated personal details using their pictures they post on social media. ("I'm super quiet, not a partier at all, I don't smoke of do drugs" Go on Social media and everyone of their recent pics is of them partying hard and doing stupid things that could be a liability to your financial investment) ((Yes, I'm aware that this is a Judging-a-book-by-its- cover thing, but with ppl, often times the cover is the book.))

References can't always be trusted. Some former landlords are just itching to get a crappy tenant out of their place. So will tell you how amazing the potential tenant is. Take it with a grain of salt, but still call every reference and follow your gut. If it feels off, or seems too perfect, it is.

If something breaks, get it fixed.
If you treat your property like a slum, ("who cares if the dishwasher is broken, they can do dishes by hand" etc.) they will treat your place like a slum and you will pay for it in the end.
We have a standing agreement with our tenants that if something is broken they are to notify us immediately even if in the middle of the night if needed, and we will fix it immediately, I'm am handy with tools and my hands so saves time and money, or as soon as we can get parts, or trades in (for the big stuff). They know we care, therefore in-turn they take general care to not create extra damage.


Basically the biggest thing to remember is this- If you get into the property game, it is a business and an investment. Ours while new for us is part of our retirement plan. Therefore we treat every new tenant as a risk and an investment. We do a risk assessment of them based on their personality, their career, or lack there-of. How long have they been at their current job, what is their annual income, can they afford the monthly rental payments along with whatever other expenses they likely have, are they a flight risk of bailing in less than 12 months or mid-night moves or is there potential for along term agreement, How long have they been renters, etc.
Is our "investing" in them as our tenant going to increase our value, or will it decrease our value.

Remember, this isn't a game or "just a rental property" this is a business, it's your business and you have to be aware that there are ppl who will destroy your business and cost you large sums of money. So don't take the first person that comes along. Weed through, do your due diligence with references. Interview the potentials. Let them talk. Ppl tend to reveal a lot about themselves and the type of person they are if they just get left to talking and telling some personal stories.

Owning property is stressful in it's own right, but it is worth it in the end. We aren't making a ton of money yet, but we do cover our costs each month and enough to put a small amount away for repairs or fixes for now. That will change as the years go on, like they do with any business.

Just a few thoughts.

[ehrgeiz]

I own 2/3 of a triplex and live in one of the units, rent the other.

We've had mostly great luck with the tenants and of course it's pretty easy to keep an eye on things. If something breaks I'm right next door, so no biggie.

I would probably buy the last unit if the opportunity arises, but that would be the limit of my rental portfolio. I would never own a rental in another municipality or even on the other side of the City or something like that.

Someone else mentioned it, and I'll repeat. It's absolutely uncanny how something always goes wrong when you are on holiday or otherwise unavailable to address it. It's almost comical, you could set a watch to it!

The other great advice is go small and have something in the Downtown or University areas. Big suburban houses attract big families with kids, kids break and disrespect things. Unexpected costs of renters with big families result in unpaid rent, loan requests, etc. I've seen it get outrageous and it's just flatly harder to rent it. More likely to carry the property vacant for a few months which sucks.

Also, likely anything the more financially sound and longer term the holdings is to you the more you can relax about. I don't feel a need to extract every dollar out of a tenant or have anxiety about something breaking. Would rather a quality tenant feel they're getting an unreal deal and want to stay on a longer term basis. Long term, way less headache and maybe even less cost in turning the property over tenant to tenant.

[Scott h]

Originally Posted by El Carnicero

My wife and I have a detached rental that we own.

We've been in the game for only 2.5 year. So far our experience has been generally good/great.

Our first tenants were a learning experience. They lasted 20 days before we booted them. We bank that experience up to being inexperienced at noting how potential tenants can be manipulative to get into a place.
Luckily we had our ducks in a row with our documentation that was signed by the tenants upon move in and the Landlord Tennant board backed us up 100% on evicting them.
Long story short, we got them out no problem due to the fact we had them dead to rights with picture evidence and we witnesses their breach of agreement personally ourselves with multiple other eye witness accounts from neighbours.
The house required minimal repair (which I was able to do myself.) and cost us about $500 which we took from their damage deposit and a cleaning charge.

We have now had 2 sets of tenants since, they were/are both great and care for the home well. always let us know right away if there were maintenance issues and we have learned how to spot potential manipulators and risky tenants.

Here is my advice.

-If you are a Heart-On-Your-Sleeve type ppl- Lose that immediately. That does not mean bein a heartless slum lord, That mean, set your boundaries and recognize when someone is trying to take advantage. Not every renter is a manipulator, but there are a few that know how to use the system.

Every rental agreement for us starts with a month to month rental agreement. That way if they are crap tenants, you can more easily give them a 90 day notice to vacate. If we are happy with them after X number of months, we invite them to sign a longer term lease if they want.

-If you don't already have a property, search for one that is not upscale, but not a slum. You don't want everything new and flashy because it will get damaged and the no tenant will care for the place like you would care for it. If the place is functional and relatively clean, its acceptable for a rental. NOTE- If you can find a property in a half decent neighbourhood, and charge the right amount of rent for the area and for the home features it helps to weed out the crap tenants. Use Rentfaster.ca to see the rental costs around the area and set your price accordingly.

DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT- Make sure you have your tenants sign EVERYTHING!
Rentfaster.ca has a section of generic forms landlords. everything form basic monthly/ yearly agreements to non-smoking/cannabis clauses. they are generic and you can adjust them to your liking, but use them or something similar. DO NOT Do ANYTHING BY HANDSHAKE AGREEMENT.
These documents were what supported eviction of our first set of tenants as they had signed forms agreeing to certain conditions and then we found that they had misrepresented themselves. When we contacted the LL tenant board for advice, they asked if they had signed the forms and that by doing so and breaching those agreements the tenant had no legs to stand on and that they could assist us without argument with removal by force if necessary.

Find a property in a neighbourhood with schools and decent shopping.- A family as a tenant is infinitely better than not. If they have kids, they need a school. Having that in the area makes your property more desirable, as well as giving you a longer term rental term. Worst part is having to put up the for rent sign every year or so because of turn over. Small families with young kids tend to stay out for longer periods of time. Yes, they will cause some damage as kids often do, but a good tenant, with a longer term and always better than constant turn over.

Renting to young adults- Bachlors/bachloettes- We learned this one from my MIL who has been a LL for a long time-
If you have college age adults wanting to rent your place, depending on the type, (Ours was a 5 Bdrm house) they will likely have room mates. IF the total age of all the room mates equals 100 yrs old, you can probably feel safe that they will not destroy the place. There is likely one of the room mates who will act a some kind of home manager. Making sure that his other roommates don't do brainless things or cause stupid damage, or they will be the ones to collect the rent and turn it over to you.

-Use social media to your advantage- We don't ask for social media handles, but we do look up the applicants name on FB and Instagram to see what we can find. We have weeded out many potentials without ever having to meet them based on they type of ppl we are looking for to occupy our property. As well we have also corroborated personal details using their pictures they post on social media. ("I'm super quiet, not a partier at all" Go on Social media and everyone of their recent pics is of them partying hard and doing stupid things that could be a liability to your financial investment)

References can't always be trusted. Some former landlords are just itching to get a crappy tenant out of their place so will tell you haw amazing the potential tenant is. Take it with a grain of salt, but still call every reference and follow your gut. If it feels off, or seems too perfect, it is.

If something breaks, get it fixed.
If you treat your property like a slum, ("who cares if the dishwasher is broken, they can do dishes by hand" etc.) they will treat you place like a slum and you will pay for it in the end.
We have a standing agreement with our tenants that if something is broken they are to notify us immediately, and we will fix it immediately, or as soon as we can get parts, or trades in. They know we care, therefore in-turn they take general care to not create extra damage.


Basically the biggest thing to remember is this- If you get into the property game, it is a business and an investment. Ours while new for us is part of our retirement plan. Therefore we treat every new tenant as a risk. We do a risk assessment of them based on their personality, their career, or lack there-of. How long have they been at their current job, what is their annual income, can they afford the monthly rental payments along with whatever other expenses they likely have, are they a flight risk of bailing in less than 12 months or is there potential for along term agreement, How long have they been renters, etc.

Remember, this isn't a game or "just a rental property" this is a business, it's your business and you have to be aware that there are ppl who will destroy your business and cost you large amounts of money. So don't take the first person that comes along. Weed through, do your due diligence with references. Interview the potentials. Let them talk. Ppl tend to reveal a lot about themselves and the type of person they are if they just get left to talking and telling some personal stories.

Owning property is stressful in it's own right, but it is worth it in the end. We aren't making a ton of money yet, but we do cover our costs each month and enough to put a small amount away for repairs or fixes for now. That will change as the years go on, like they do with any business.
Just a few thoughts.

You hit some very good points, and mirror many of my sentiments. In the long run it is really worth it and can bump your retirement up MANY years, but it isn't fast money, and it isn't free money. It is a job, and needs to be taken seriously if you want to be successful. You sound like you will be one of those.

[El Carnicero]

Originally Posted by ehrgeiz

If something breaks I'm right next door, so no biggie.

I would never own a rental in another municipality or even on the other side of the City or something like that.

I second this. Couldn't imagine having a property across the city with zero control or care over it.

We live one community over from our rental. I also kept the detached garage for personal storage so I usually end up being around about once a week.
Easy to drive by and check lawn or snow maintenance. Fast arrival if something breaks.
This is ultimately what saved us and helped us realize something was off with our first tenants and we started watching a bit closer and then the issues became clearly apparent.

[El Carnicero]

Originally Posted by Scott h

You hit some very good points, and mirror many of my sentiments. In the long run it is really worth it and can bump your retirement up MANY years, but it isn't fast money, and it isn't free money. It is a job, and needs to be taken seriously if you want to be successful. You sound like you will be one of those.

Thanks.
It definitely is not fast money and it does cause stress, but I'm happy knwing we have it for the future years.

[MyAlberta]

Originally Posted by eric2381

OP, you have asked a complex and personal question. Do you have anything more to contribute?

Agreed. Many disciplines make up an investing strategy.