Chapter 1

After getting out of bed this morning, Ron Cramer looked out a window and could see that the first snow of the coming winter season had fallen. It was just a light dusting, but it foretold of the coming snow and cold winter months. While this view was picturesque, Ron preferred to see green grass and leaves on the trees. The Thanksgiving holiday was later this week which meant that the following Monday, Ron would be on a flight heading to Florida and its warmer weather.

Ron was a dentist who had an established dental practice in a western Chicago suburb. He had become friends with Ed Jackson while in dental school, and they decided to become partners in opening a dental practice. Their business plan was very simple as it was to charge less for their services than what other dentists in the surrounding area were charging. Doing this in a short time resulted in their practice developing a good-size patient base. This was because the word had spread about the lower cost of dental services when compared to what other dentists were charging.

The success of this dental practice resulted in several things, all for the better. The practice’s success correlated with an increase in the profitability of this practice. In later years they relocated their practice to a building that they had built for them. On the first floor of this building was their dental practice while the second floor of the building became a satellite office for a physicians group.

Being successful in the dental practice coincided with Ron also being successful in his personal life. He met and married Liz Borland. Liz was a medical technician who was a very attractive lady. She gave birth to a boy they named Keith, and two years later to a girl they named Bethany.

To keep his dental license current, it was required that Ron periodically attend a continuing educational conference. Some time ago he had attended a conference that was held in Sarasota, Florida. He thought he would reward himself and stay for a few days after the conference ended to see what the State of Florida had to offer. He knew the years were starting to fly by which had him give some thought as to where he would live or what he would do when it came time for him to retire.

At this conference, Ron struck up a conversation with Stan Goldman who was a dentist from the New Jersey area. Among the many things they talked about was investing. Stan said there had been a nationwide realization that the giving out of no or low down payment adjustable rate mortgages was not a good move on the part of mortgagees. Many of the mortgagors could not pay their mortgages when the interest rate on their mortgage was adjusted. This resulted in a significant amount of loan defaults causing the mortgagees to repossess the properties.

These loan defaults also caused a nationwide crash in property values. Both house and condo properties Stan said, had lost close to half of what their values were a few years prior. Because of the drop in property values, he said this was an opportune time to purchase either a house or a condo, especially in Florida.

Stan had purchased one house to invest in as a rental property and said he would flip it later when house prices went back up. He was considering purchasing another property to do the same thing. He said he was dealing with a realtor named Wanda who was a very knowledgeable and experienced person who knew this area.

Ron couldn’t help but give considerable thought to what Stan had told him. He thought he could diversify his present investments if he were to purchase one of these distressed properties. If he could get a good deal on a house, he could first rent it and then sell it to make a profit when the prices rebounded. Then again, the warm weather during the winter months was nice and maybe this was an area he would want to live when it came time to retire.

After getting more information on this realtor, Ron met with Wanda, the realtor Stan had mentioned after the conference was over. He told her he was looking to invest in property but wasn’t sure if it should be a condo or a house. This caused Wanda to ask Ron numerous questions about his life, hobbies, family, and what his thoughts were. Ron knew he was telling Wanda quite a bit about himself.

When she was done asking her questions, Wanda said, “You are correct in what you say about the property prices dropping. Houses are selling today for close to fifty percent less than what they were selling for a few years ago. Besides bank repossessions, there are also a significant number of homes that were owned by older people who have met their demise and now are up for sale. The heirs are anxious to sell those homes and settle the estates.”

“From what you say about liking golf, I would recommend you look for a turnkey house in a golf course community. Homeownership is less restrictive than condo ownership and it gives you more privacy and options. When you aren’t here I can rent out the house during the winter months to snowbirds and during the summer months to people who are either vacationing or visiting the area. My office of course will be overseeing the property which will ensure that it is being taken care of. Depending on the amount of the mortgage and the interest rate, the rental income could make owning a house here cash flow neutral or maybe even positive. In the long run, it’s the appreciation of the house where you will make your profit when you sell it. Of course, when you retire you could always live here.”

To Ron, it made sense what Wanda had said. He asked her to show him houses that were of the turnkey type and were located in a golf course community. Wanda showed him three turnkey houses. He liked all three houses, but one house, caught his attention. This was a fairly recently constructed house that had storm shutters and wind-resistant windows. He asked her to make an offer on this three-bedroom house. One of the reasons he liked this house was that it bordered a large pond at the rear of this house’s property. On the other side of the pond was the fairway of a golf course that gave a nice view from the kitchen and the rear of the house.

Wanda made a phone call and after some discussion, she told Ron that his offer was accepted. She suggested a broker Ron could contact for a fixed low-cost mortgage as well as house insurance. Wanda also recommended an attorney who could finalize the sale with Ron going back north. She also took the time to explain what she would do in managing this house for him along with what her fee would be for doing this.

Ron surprised Liz when he was back at his home. In response to her asking him how the conference went, he told her he purchased a house in Sarasota, Florida. He gave her his reasoning for why he purchased this house as an investment.

The years were flying by and it seemed that it wasn’t that long before Ron’s children, Keith and Beth had graduated college and married. The both of them were in the process of raising their own families having given Liz and Ron three grandchildren with plans for more.

There was a marked change in the dental practice when Ed, Ron’s partner announced that he was moving to central Florida. Ed’s wife’s parents lived there and had become fairly well-to-do because of her father’s roofing business. Her father had a heart attack and passed away. Ed who was now in his mid-fifties, said he and his wife were moving there as he was going to oversee this roofing business.

Ed admitted that he knew zilch about the roofing business. In previous conversations he had with his father-in-law, the father-in-law said that the business ran on automatic pilot. That was because it was an established business with longtime customers along with a group of good dedicated employees. Ed had sufficient savings that he could afford to retire and it helped that Florida didn’t have a state income tax.

Ed reached an agreement with Marty Adams, a young dentist who had just graduated from dental school and recently moved to this area because of his recent marriage. Marty would buy Ed’s share of the dental business and later, Ed’s share of the building. Marty would pay Ed a fixed amount they agreed upon over several years. While Ron had the first option of buying Ed’s share, he declined to do it as he had been thinking for a while about cutting back on the amount of time he was working to enjoy life more.

Ron thought he was not ready to fully retire but he would like to reduce how much he was working. He was now also giving serious thought to where he would live when he fully retired. Because of the cold winter weather in this western Chicago suburb, Florida was his first choice as to where he would like to retire and partially work.