When I was 24, one of my best friends who was two years younger starting researching the issue of how to invest for the long term and he also came up with the rental property plan. We both bought condos that we lived in ourselves for a few years and we have both had about 30 years of rental income from. He bought another couple small units, and he quit working as a programmer when he was 40, he and his family live very frugally, and he has done nothing but property management since then.
My problem with the article: taking on a lot of debt. Bad idea, in my opinion. It is best to own much less property and have no debt on it. Of course, who wants to completely retire? I think that the trick is to make small income property investments, try to pay them off within a decade, and always work on what gives you pleasure, and don't concentrate on money.
The point of debt is that when the real estate market drops, you declare bankrupcy and let the lender eat most of the loss. Donald Trump has done this like 5 times.
If you own outright, you eat the entire loss yourself.
Basically -- debt increases upside and reduces downside risk. And inflation helps you pay it off. No wonder we're addicted?
"Debt is bad idea" - it is not as long as your income is sufficient to cover payments and pay yourself. It's always better to have only 20% of the skin in the game rather than 100%.
My problem with the article: taking on a lot of debt. Bad idea, in my opinion. It is best to own much less property and have no debt on it. Of course, who wants to completely retire? I think that the trick is to make small income property investments, try to pay them off within a decade, and always work on what gives you pleasure, and don't concentrate on money.