Among all of the people who post here on some regular basis, I would like to know two things about you.

1. Your age when you first became a landlord with your first rental property(s).

2. Your age now and whatever personal 'words of wisdom' you may like to share. The only reward of getting older is gaining Wisdom.

I will answer my own question here but will wait till later. And Jeffrey, I want you to answer this post too, especially since you and I are the same age.

1. 33

2. 63 *with hiatus in rental property mgmt between age 42-59 (long story)

Advice: don't get involved with anyone who has CS payments.

45 now, bought my first house at 21 and first investment property at 23.

I started trying to be a landlord when I bought my first house in Florida in 1985 and 6 weeks later chased my now-husband to Virginia. Only kept it a month or so though and then sold it. I was 28.

Made $11,000 and put it down on "our" first house, and when we moved to the next one (expecting a baby) we rented that one to co-workers, ended up selling to them.

Stayed in that next house 8 years, then rented it a few times to friends of friends after we moved again. Had a terrible time collecting rent, damages, yada yada. Sold it. In our late 30's? Early 40's by then? Lost money. Had to bring cash to closing :( (The next year the market rebounded and the house was double what we sold it for...)

Decided we needed a retirement home and bought a duplex on the water in 2003. Fixed it all up and rented it out...that was our first "real" rental house, and we bought several more between 2003-2009. I was 46 and he was 49.

It was going awful. I tell people I was curled up on the bed in a fetal position crying and my DH insisted we go to Mr. Landlord's Convention in Jacksonville (2010.) Everything changed after that. So I was 53, he was 57 when we became "real" landlords, started growing our business and became profitable enough for him to quit his job in 2012. TWO years was all it took to get a handle on this thing after we met Jeffrey.

45 - bought a 5 unit, my husband’s dream to own rental property

57 this week, I manage both multis and will ring the Freedom bell this spring

55 - husband inherited a multi and a double

27 first home; 1st rental on a previous home at 34

53 now

18th Birthday purchased my first SFR.

Bought my first house at 21, turned my 3rd house into a rental at 31. Currently 82 and winding down. My two son's will sell my 5 properties when we are gone to avoid capital gains and depreciation recapture taxes. Oldest son gets his 50% no strings attached, younger son's 50% goes into a trust and he will get a monthly allowance. He and his train wreck wife are not responsible enough to manage a large inheritance.

36 when our first family home was turned into a rental & 60 now, with about 5-6 years off during family difficulties.

Got back in 2011.

Live below (way below) your income and re-invest profits to get going. Enjoy the profits later.

Know yourself! Be seriously introspective and know what your personality is, and who you will best be able to manage as tenants. Know your risk tolerance. This determines what type & what location you should invest in.

25 then,

Started at 18 - I married someone who was older and this was his way of me "not having to work".

Now 67.

Started at 30. Recently turned 48.

My favorite pieces of wisdom comes from Brad 20K:

1) "Take your tools out of the trunk."

2) "Have a dream that is bigger than your problems." (or something like that)

My own piece of wisdom is learning not to let setbacks get me down. I accept my mistakes and move on to make better decisions.

I am 72

First real estate purchase age 18

First rental purchased age 32 (1984)

Advice: screen carefully, do not believe anything an applicant tells you until you have verified it independently of what they have given you. Don't try to be "nice". They don't see "nice" as nice, they see it as "easy to take advantage of"

Started rentals while still at W2 when I was 33. W2 ended in 2012. I'm only 55 now.

Started because I had the construction background and my MIL was renting junk. I said can you live in a junky house that I own instead? Sure she replied. We bought the first one, brought it up to junky standards and she lived in three of ours until we decided she should stay put.

Accept that you don't know what you don't know. I have made so many mistakes over the years that I sometimes wonder why I stayed in the biz.

I bought my first rental at age 23. Now 60.

Wisdom: understand your expenses and if you find that your expenses are dramatically lower than the expenses of your peers, expect that you have missed something that you didn’t know about and will be paying.

I bought my first rental using an inheritance at age 57. I was late starter so I had to scale, so for me this meant focusing on MFH. Main idea was to create retirement income. My first investment was turn key and everything else has been buying distressed and turning it around. I would say that I took my inheritance and grew it more than 20 times and created the retirement income that was my goal. I'm now 67, so it's been a short run.

First rental at 25. Age now 69.

I first got involved with rental property helping my parents when I was in my early teens. I bought my first 3 family a month after I turned 24. I'm 73 & still enjoy being actively involved in real estate.

There is no such thing as a dumb question so never be afraid to ask whatever is on your mind.

Never accept a marginal applicant as it's ALWAYS less expensive to have a vacant unit than it is to get an unwanted tenant out & make the place ready to rent.

First rental at age 46 when I took a buyout from my company.

I became a landlord at 48 YO and am 64 now.

I was 36 when I bought my first house and 12 years later at age 48, I rented that house out and got my first taste of being a landlord. My first tenants were absolutely wonderful and based on that very positive experience, I decided to buy more rental houses since I was under the assumption that all tenants were great and wonderful as my first ones were. Oh boy, talk about being a naive newbie back then.

Fast forward 18 years, I am 65 now and have 16 rental houses with good tenants in them but they are not all great and wonderful like my first ones were.

My wisdom: Knowing what I know now, I wish had started buying rental houses at age 28 instead of 48. At 28, I would have been a millionaire by age 48 instead of having to wait until I got old at 65.

40 then, 57 now.

39, 74 now.

A friend lost $750K in 1975 during a business transaction. He sued and won a judgment for the $750K, plus attorney costs. "We" found the guy owned an apartment complex with a loan on it. Friend got the building, valued at $3M, but with a mortgage. Each unit cost $10K, but the down payment per unit at 25% was only $2,500 bucks. While the property is under 300 units, my friend sold the property on his 93 birthday, netting him before taxes around $60M.

Pat said, "Trust your gut but verify anyway!" I love that one. That applies every applicant I have ever met.

DJ - If there are any rewards besides wisdom in getting old, I wish you would tell me what they are. Getting on Medicare was kind of a nice benefit, but with my income, Medicare is definitely not for free.

I was in my 30s when I took over while still employed, and it took 5 years to figure things out and be in a position to ditch the lousy PM. Two years later the economy tanked and my position was eliminated. I've always joked that I'm in pre retirement. I manage 20ish units and have time to serve as a library trustee and operate a local npo. Cash flow is king, which allows me to do good for my community. I am thankful to Jeffrey, this site and all here who share their experience. I have to say though that after taking over from the PM, cutting my teeth with talking to C prospects, hearing their stories and experiencing it all has helped season me in a way that only being in the trenches can. Long before NY went south, I knew an empty unit is better than one w a lousy tenant. The other thing that has helped me is that I'm handy, and wrote contracts and supervised contractors, so I know how things should be done, and when a contractor is cheating/ cutting corners. I got most of my units bones updated, not the sexy stuff, but investing in the units has made them easier to manage. I have higher end units in C territory. Now in my late 50s I'm ready to trade up to more B properties.

21, 66 now.

1- Screen x3. including a Private Investigator.

2- Find your own niche.

3- Be content.

4- Keep fresh batteries in your BS detector.

Roy:

Grandchildren!!

I was 22 when I started out but was part time forever.

I went full time when I was 38.

Bought first rental at 28.

Age 57

1. 25

1. 24

2. 65

Bought my first home when I was 23 or 24. Became a landlord when we moved and kept that house as a rental. Only picked up 5-6 more houses over the next 10 years. Started accelerating my purchases the last 7 years or so. 42 years old now with 28 units while wife and I still both work our regular W-2 jobs.

Words of wisdom: There is no such thing as tenant proof when upgrading or reinforcing something

Bought first house at 24--and rented it out because we couldn't afford to move in. We were on site managers of a 48 unit apartment, got free rent as part (most) of the compensation. moved in 2 years later.

Started as a landlord again at age 45...really started growing it 2 years later.

Retired from primary job at 59.

67 now..

Jeffrey said, "enjoy and share the fruits of your efforts while you still can."

Starting this Christmas, I will become a philanthropist. I am going to the bank and request 50 brand new $100 bills. I have made a list of everyone whom has had a positive influence on both my business and personal life. Most of these people will receive a $100 bill tucked inside a Christmas card. However, my loyal 80 year old handyman, who has come to my rescue after 3 various tenant house disasters,..he will receive a ten $100 bills.

On an related side note, another successful RE investor whom I have known for 30 years told me just last week, "I do not want to die with money in my pockets, which is why I am on a spending spree right now".

I always wanted rental property, but, got stuck in paralysis of analysis.

So, the wife took me to lunch one day, but, lunch was actually a real estate auction. She said she was not leaving until “we” bought a rental house. SHE finally won the bid on the last house - a 4 bedroom house for $20k in the hood that rented for $600/month. That was 2008.

I continued buying properties and we have 22.

I'm as old as I feel.

I have been a landlord owner since 2000.

1. 40

2. 66

I was 28 when we bought our first primary residence. We paid it off in about two years.

I was 31 when we had our first baby and bought our first rental. The baby was adorable. :P The house, not so much. It was a 480 sf 1/1 that you could smell from the street. I didn't expect DH to want that one, because it was so crummy, but it was $7k and he was willing to risk $7k. If landlording didn't work out, he could get his money back on it. The renovation took about 6-7 months, so I was 32 when it was finally ready for our first tenant.

Fast-forward to today, and we're very close to our goal of 30 houses free-and-clear. I currently have three renovations at various stages of progress, and two more in the queue that I'll get to when I have absolutely nothing else left to do.

Wow Roy! Fascinating that so many regulars here are my age!

First rental before my own home, nine days after graduating with a degree in MUSIC at age 22.

Now 68.

Smarts can be learned at any age but true wisdom does not mature until we retire and can look back.

-Only take advice from HAPPY, WEALTHY people.

-Get educated. This pays WAY MORE than MUSIC!

-The biz is easy when you learn and copy the pros.

-Your DREAM must be bigger than your problems.

-When your DREAM is big enough and moves from your head to your heart to your gut and starts to eat you UP, the facts don't count. You will see things you never saw before, like the deals right in front of you.

BRAD

24 when purchasing our home

52 when purchasing our 1st rental

70 years old now

Wisdom thought – Real estate is a PEOPLE business. Learn all that you can in order to reduce any level of tension between you and your tenant, or applicant, or vendor.

I learned from the following books and CDs.

The Power of Body Language – Tonya Reiman

Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus – John Gray

Quiet – Susan Cain – about introverts

5 Languages of Love – Gary Chapman

The Birth Order Book – Kevin Leman – amazing how often one reaches adulthood with a personality based on their birth order

Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Golman

The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert Caldini – a book about the 4 basic personalities, kind of a dry book

The Magic of Colors – Jerry Clark CDs at clubrhino.com – much better presentation and explanation about the 4 basic personalities

Some advice:

DH has had a saying these past several years about doing improvements/repairs to properties:

He says when he takes the time to do something RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, he is being kind to "future him." So while you don't want to OVER-improve a property, making sure the structure and the innards are done right is only helping HIM (and thus me and our heirs) in the long run.

Especially these days with hired help so hard to find and with all of US aging...

44, 62

Purchased my first property in 1979, when I was 26, still in business at 70.

75 and 77

First rental in 1985

Starting to sell of homes now.

1. 48

2. 60

I was 28 when I had my first property I'm 38 now.

The best piece of advice I can give is start young, try to never sell anything, and pay more if you have to for quality properties.

I just bought a place for 100k cash. Most expensive single purchase I have made to date.