BiggerPockets Real Estate

After having her second daughter, high school math teacher Christle Stezskal had a choice to make—keep working for little pay and give up the time she had with her young children, or find another way to help provide for them.

What happened to real estate investing? From 2010 until 2022 everyone wanted to buy real estate. Fortunes were being made, cash flow was plentiful in many markets, and real estate seemed to only go up…until it didn’t.

We’re selling off rental properties. Nope, that’s not clickbait; we’re actually getting rid of cash-flowing rental properties from our real estate portfolios. But why? And why now? Is there a market crash we fear is coming? Do we think this is the peak of real estate?

Five years ago, Martin Castro-Silva was working at a bank, earning $80,000 per year. Not a bad gig, but one thing was eating at him—he was missing the moments with his two kids, three and one years old at the time.

This is the most boring way to get rich with rentals. It’s not flashy, it’s not sexy, but it works—and it doesn’t even take that long to pull off. You don’t need to have hundreds of thousands of dollars saved up, investing experience, or dozens of rental properties.

Few investors have gotten the real estate market as right as Brian Burke. He bought heavily discounted deals after 2008, sold at the post-2020 peak, waited years to buy, and finally just made his next big move—taking down a profitable, large investment property for 50%+ off.

Six figures in cash flow per year from nine paid-off properties. That’s the definition of a small, powerful, profitable rental property portfolio. And today’s guest, Greg Roedersheimer, did it all within the last five years by buying the type of property every tenant truly wants.

If you’re scared about the economy, you need to hear this. You probably either invest in real estate or want to, but nothing seems stable. Wars have begun. Gas prices are rising. Mortgage rates just went back up.

This investor makes six figures in profit without putting a single dollar into her real estate deals. Using a new real estate investing “model,” Chauncey Pham has cracked the code to make as much profit as possible from a single property.

15 years ago, Matt McCurdy had everything—a good corporate job, a great degree, and a path to a comfortable retirement…in 30 years. The problem?

The “Great Stall” is on. Home prices are stagnating or falling, and the hot markets are slowing down. Now, 40% of the U.S. housing market is in decline. This is exactly what we were waiting for. But new risks to the real estate market could flip this “stall” into something more serious. War.

In just around five years, these two investors went from zero rentals to financial freedom through real estate. In their own words, “I want as few doors as possible with as much money as possible.” That’s what we’re all after as real estate investors.

Just three years ago, Joanna Caldera was working as a nurse, raising four children while her husband was gone most of the month in the oil fields. She wanted time with her kids and her husband to come home, but all of that required money.

If we had to start our real estate portfolios over again in 2026, this is exactly what we’d do. If you’re just beginning to buy rentals or want to overhaul your current portfolio, this is the episode to listen to.

This is the proven path to becoming a real estate millionaire, retiring early, and gaining complete financial independence. It’s not hard, but it takes time, work, and forethought.

This investor started with $0 in the bank, waited tables to buy rental properties, secretly moved into a retirement community to save money on rent, and borrowed a down payment just to get into his first home.

If you know these 10 things before you start investing in real estate, you’ll reach financial freedom faster, make more money with fewer rentals, and keep your stress levels in check. But if you don’t, you’ll learn them the hard way, as many investors do.

This could turn an average real estate deal into a home run, and it’s nothing you can’t do right now. Today, we’re giving you seven tips to save thousands (if not tens of thousands) on your rental property expenses, so you keep more of your cash flow every month.

This might be the smartest small real estate portfolio strategy we’ve ever heard. Today’s guest has done the seemingly impossible—gotten rental properties for one dollar, used dirt to cover his down payments, and achieved the (to many investors, extinct) “infinite BRRRR” strategy.

Four rental properties by age 40? It’s possible, and if you can achieve it, your financial future will change forever.

There are six numbers you need to know before buying a rental property. We run these numbers before we buy any investment, and knowing all six gives you the highest chance of making money instead of purchasing a headache.

Renovating two rental properties, while working two jobs, all in your twenties. Flo Jacques took it on so she could replace her $35,000/year college admissions salary—and it was so worth it. The first year after graduating college, at age 22, Flo decided she was done being a renter.

Homebuyers are getting the biggest discounts on properties in over 12 years—and it’s only getting started. At this point, nobody can refute that a full-on buyer’s market has arrived.

Single-family vs. multifamily rental properties—which gets you to financial freedom faster? A rookie real estate investor is wondering what he should do for his first rental property.

If you want financial freedom faster, you need to stop buying rentals and start buying rental portfolios. Most people have never thought about it. Instead, they slowly build their rental portfolio to 10 or (at the most) 20 units.

Ashley Kehr and Henry Washington share their top market picks for 2025 rental property investing. Data-driven analysis of where cash flow, appreciation, and tenant demand intersect.

Dave Meyer breaks down the math: you don't need 100 doors to retire. With the right strategy, 5-10 well-chosen properties in appreciating markets can generate enough passive income to replace a W-2 salary.

Dave Meyer lays out five concrete strategies for getting started in real estate with limited capital: house hacking, partnerships, seller financing, BRRRR with hard money, and REITs as a bridge.

Meyer examines how rental portfolios performed during the 2008 crash, the 2020 pandemic, and the 2022 rate spike. The lesson: diversified rental portfolios in essential housing survive every recession.

Henry Washington explains how he started his real estate empire by house hacking — buying a duplex, living in one unit, and renting the other to cover the mortgage. The lowest-risk entry point into real estate investing.

Meyer argues that waiting for lower interest rates is a form of market timing that reliably underperforms just buying and holding. Historical data shows that the best time to buy is always when you can afford to.

Dainard demonstrates that BRRRR works in any rate environment if you buy deep enough below market value. New loan products make the refinance step more flexible than ever.

Washington shares the specific steps he took to go from one duplex to a 40-unit portfolio in five years while working a full-time job. Systems, automation, and knowing when to delegate.

Dave Meyer and James Dainard analyze the 2024 real estate market: interest rates, inventory levels, rental demand, and where the opportunities are in a challenging environment.

Meyer demystifies cost segregation studies — the process of accelerating depreciation on specific building components to generate massive first-year tax deductions.

Meyer explains how seller financing bypasses traditional lending entirely. When the seller IS the bank, interest rates, credit scores, and down payment requirements become negotiable.

Washington makes the case that 2-4 unit properties are the best entry point: FHA-eligible, manageable complexity, and enough units to house-hack while building cash flow.

Meyer breaks down depreciation, 1031 exchanges, cost segregation, and the real estate professional status — the tax advantages that make real estate the most tax-advantaged investment class in America.

Kehr breaks down when to self-manage vs. hire a property manager. The answer depends on your portfolio size, time value, and whether you view management as a skill to develop or a task to delegate.

Meyer explains how to invest in markets thousands of miles from where you live using a team of local agents, property managers, and contractors — proving you don't need to invest where you live.

Meyer shares his framework for quickly evaluating whether a real estate market is worth investing in: job growth, population trends, landlord-tenant law, supply pipeline, and price-to-rent ratio.

Meyer catalogs the most common mistakes first-time real estate investors make: overestimating rent, underestimating repairs, skipping inspections, not accounting for vacancy, and analysis paralysis.

Meyer explains why real estate outperforms stocks, bonds, and gold as an inflation hedge: debt is fixed, rents rise with inflation, and property values track replacement costs.