She Started Investing in Her 50s, Now She’s Retired with 4 Rentals

**Dave Meyer** (0:00)
Hey, everyone, Dave here. Today on The Feed, we are publishing an episode that previously appeared on the BiggerPockets Rookie Show. It's the story of investor Sandy Lee from Houston, Texas.
Sandy didn't start investing in real estate until she was already in her 50s, but she was still able to buy four properties in just four years and retire early from her day job. So here's rookie hosts, Ashley Kerr and Tony Robinson with Sandy, and we'll be back with a new episode of Bigger Pockets Podcast in a couple of days.

**Ashley Kerr** (0:38)
This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. I'm Ashley Kerr.

**Tony Robinson** (0:41)
And I am Tony J. Robinson. And with that, let's give a big warm welcome to Sandy. Sandy, thank you for joining us on the Real Estate Rookie Podcast today.

**Sandy Lee** (0:47)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm a fan girling over here. I've been a big fan from the beginning.

**Ashley Kerr** (0:52)
Well, we are so excited to hear your story today and the journey that you've been on. And you actually started out with an engineering and construction degree, working for two companies for 35 years. You had senior leadership roles, and really a career that most people would call a success story. So what was actually happening inside the story around the time you turned 50?

**Sandy Lee** (1:14)
I mean, I absolutely loved my career. So you won't hear me speak too ill of it. I was so lucky to have it. I worked my way up from pipe stress engineering into some senior leadership roles, and I loved all of those different experiences along the way. But I could see that I didn't want to live out the rest of my years in an office setting and keep doing the same exact thing that I was. So I was just looking for more when I turned 50 and trying to figure out, like you said, how to get to retirement.

**Tony Robinson** (1:41)
So Sandy, I mean, 35 years is a good amount of time to invest into a career.
Was there a moment at some point in that journey where a light bulb went off, or was it more of a subtle shift or subtle realization that you need to do something different? Just take us back to that moment where you realized that maybe a change was needed.

**Sandy Lee** (2:01)
It was very subtle, and I think you hit on it with the long time that it was. By the time I was at the end of my career, I had had such great roles, but I was running our private equity division. I was still helping out a little bit on the services side, but it wasn't a role that necessarily fit any of my background or really my skill sets. Fantastic education. I didn't even realize it at the time, but it wasn't really me. So I was starting to just feel like, I wonder what else there could be. I longed for more travel. I grew up with a mom who was a travel agent. So travel was in my soul from a very early age, and I was looking for flexibility.

**Tony Robinson** (2:37)
What about from a financial perspective, Sandy? I mean, to work 35 years, do you feel like you had put yourself in a position to coast into retirement, or was there something from the financial perspective that motivated you a bit as well?

**Sandy Lee** (2:48)
I was in a position that I could have stayed in the same career company industry for another five years and then coast it into retirement. I wasn't quite there yet, but I certainly had more resources, and I was very lucky to have been there. But no, I wasn't ready to just hit the button and be done. Even if I was, I don't think that would have felt great to me. I think I'm the kind of person who always needs something to focus on, and I was trying to figure out what's that next thing going to be.

**Ashley Kerr** (3:15)
Now, what were you doing before you actually bought your first property as far as getting yourself ready, and how long were you consuming content like Bigger Pockets, and reading, and listening to podcasts before you actually pulled the trigger?

**Sandy Lee** (3:29)
I feel like I was doing all of those things, and for at least two years, I was thinking about how to diversify my portfolio. That's really how this started. I was all in stocks. I had a lot of stock in my actual company. I was thinking about, I don't want to be so invested in the stock market. I started going to some, after listening to you guys forever and reading books, I started going and visiting some homes in Houston, Texas, which is where I live, thinking about long-term rentals. How could I just get a few long-term rentals, the bigger pockets mentality and get something else in my portfolio?