Time for Change (Part 1)

I almost never write things by hand.  Several months ago, I wrote this post in a notebook.  I set it aside but looked at it several times.  The reason I did this was because what I am about to say will be a dramatic shift in how I live my life.  I don't take this lightly, so I wanted to dwell on it long enough to know this was the right thing to do.

I'm shifting gears.  I don't want to be a landlord forever.  For those of you who have been doing the same thing for many years, have you ever had a bad day at your job and dream about a new career?  Some time ago I started thinking about whether I wanted to commit to being a landlord for the rest of my days.  

I have done exceptionally well with real estate.  Tell me what else you can invest in with a 33% annual return net of expenses?  Who would give up such a thing.  Here's the deal:  I value my freedom more than anything.  Having tenants is having golden handcuffs.  They pay my bills, but I have to jump when they say jump.  I have invested thousands of dollars and hours of effort into making a house nice - better than my own - only to have my tenant trash the place and leave owing back rent.  I had a tenant forge a check to pay her rent, two tenants have died (one of them inside my house), others give me the runaround about why they can't pay rent - all while subscribing to a platinum satellite TV package, smoking premium cigarettes, and buying a second car (let me clarify - a brand new second car, for a single tenant who already had a perfectly drivable vehicle).

What I have decided is to curtail future real estate purchases.  I plan to buy a permanent residence for my family and will only buy additional rental properties when the deal is hands-down, an absolute no-brainer.  Truthfully I hope I don't find any deals.  Tomorrow I will let you know how I plan to earn my income moving forward.