BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

Ramit Sethi did everything the financial “experts” said not to: he rented instead of buying, upgraded to new, expensive cars, spent plenty on luxury vacations, and still made millions in the process. And in a world where the economy feels more and more hopeless every day, Ramit says there is still an antidote to unnerving personal finances: set up your saving, investing, and spending on autopilot.

You've probably heard of Ramit: he wrote the bestseller I Will Teach You To Be Rich, created How to Get Rich on Netflix, and hosts the Money for Coup...

Before real estate, Matt Krueger was making just $35,000 a year. He and his wife were barely getting by, and with a baby on the way, Matt needed to figure out how to get his income up. Fast.

He turned to the one thing his in-laws had been preaching for years: real estate investing. There was just one tiny problem…He had no money!

So, Matt pinched pennies, scraped together the smallest down payment possible, and bought a cheap “grandma” house. He moved in, fixed it up, and a year later...

Mortgage rates are at their highest in years, but that doesn’t mean your mortgage rate has to be. You don’t have to settle for a 7% or 8% rate on your next rental—today we’re sharing six ways to get a 6% mortgage rate (or lower) right now.

No matter what your lender tells you, there are multiple ways to lock in a lower mortgage rate for the life of your loan, or at least for the next few years. These methods can get you into the 4%, 5%, and 6% range, depending on how you use them. Th...

The much-anticipated 2026 midterm elections are now over, giving us a glimpse into how the next two years will play out in American politics. While Democrats and Republicans remain divided on many important topics, one type of policy seems to have bipartisan support—could the latest round of elections be good for the housing market? Today, we’re breaking down exactly how the new lineup of senators, representatives, and local players could affect home prices, supply, demand, and your property taxes.

Earlier this year, we saw one of the biggest bipartisan housing bills signed into law—...

When Obi Johns was a teenager, he saw his parents do something remarkable: they sold their home and made $150,000 from market appreciation alone. But then, months later, the investor who bought his childhood home sold it AGAIN for nearly $400,000 profit. Obi looked at his family and thought, “That should have been us.”

So, after graduating college with a degree he had little interest in, he quickly decided to get into the real estate game—but as an agent. As he grew, he saw his clients flipping houses and knew he wanted to do it, too, n...

Is the housing market going to crash? Everywhere you turn, there seems to be another headline forecasting the next housing market meltdown. But what’s behind all the noise? Actual data? Or just fearmongering?

If the housing market is going to collapse, real estate investors want to know, which is why we’re giving you the “crash math” on today’s show—the data that can help predict the likelihood of a housing crash.

There are a few key indicators that can tell us the direction of the housing market, and...

There’s a new FIRE movement—and this time, it includes real estate.

You’ve probably heard of the FIRE movement before (financial independence, retire early). It’s a strategy that combines frugal living, saving as much money as possible, and investing everything you can to retire early. The problem? Not many people we know want to “retire early” just to be stuck in a coupon-cutting life for decades.

What if you could achieve financial freedom while still traveling, going out to eat, buying the things you want, and not optimizi...

Have you ever thought, maybe real estate investing isn’t worth it anymore?

Lindsay Barrientos didn’t start buying rentals after the 2008 crash or ride the low-interest-rate wave in 2021. She started in late 2022, after home prices and interest rates had already spiked. But she knew about the long-term potential of real estate and trusted the process—buying one house at a time and banking the rental income for the next down payment.

Now, just four years later, Lindsay’s 12-property portfolio has given her the flexibility to go back to schoo...

How much do landlords make? Whether you want to own rentals or want to benchmark your property portfolio, this episode is for you. We’ve got four real rental properties with real rent, expenses, and cash flow numbers to share. And this isn’t that fluffed-up “cash flow” number many investors claim—this is the real (as in taxable) cash flow for actual deals owned by friends of the podcast, Amelia McGee and Grace Gudenkauf.

Amelia and Grace brought a variety of deals to share—from single-family homes to triplexes, some seller-financed, some with bank loans...

You want to buy a rental property, so you put 20% down and get a mortgage to cover the rest. This is how most investors buy real estate, but some (Dave Ramsey) think you can do it without debt—or at least less of it. Can you actually build a real estate portfolio with cash? Will a shorter note kill your cash flow? Today, we’re putting these two investing philosophies to the test!

We’re answering more questions from the BiggerPockets Forums—this time, with help from Deandra McDonald, the investor who went from $4,000 to finan...

Financial freedom with three rental properties? It almost sounds too easy, but it’s reality for today’s guest, who went from making roughly $11 an hour to having more than enough cash flow to live on.

With a little hard work and discipline, Lucas Teague saved $10,000 to buy his very first rental property. He made several offers and heard plenty of “nos.” But he only needed one “yes.” And that first yes changed everything.

Lucas repeated the process: buy a “cheap” property, live in it, fix it up, and make tens of tho...

Seller desperation just hit a recent peak, creating a major buying opportunity in the housing market. Over 20% of properties saw a price cut in the past four weeks, and with mortgage rates only moving up, sellers are running out of options. Winter is coming, and with it, less demand—so what are sellers going to do? More price cuts could be in store.

We’re back with October’s housing market update! We’ve been saying for months that buying opportunities would get bigger, and we’re seeing it unfold in real time. Sellers are gettin...

16 years ago, Eric Augustyn had the same fear that keeps many of us up at night: What if I get fired? He had just survived the 2008 financial crash, and while lucky to have a job, Eric was nowhere near financial freedom. This reliance on his W-2 created a fire that pushed him to buy the one asset everyone was warning him about—rental properties. He found one of the cheapest rentals he could buy, and spent nights and weekends fixing it up to eke out a small profit. 

And guess what? It worked.

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Anyone can invest in real estate. You don’t need a fancy degree, a big bank account, or a high-paying job to get started. Arden Williams and his then-girlfriend were both making just $12 an hour when they bought their first house.

How did they do it? They got uncomfortable, slashed their expenses, and threw every extra dollar toward a down payment. Then, they brought that same approach to real estate investing—jumping from one house hack to the next and sharing space with multiple tenants.

These “small” sacrifices paid off in a...

This is how to find investment properties the lazy way. Many of us work full-time jobs, have kids, or juggle a lot of responsibilities, so we can’t dedicate days each week to finding rental properties to buy. Thankfully, you don’t have to. If you have even an hour or so to spare each week, you can use any of these five “lazy” methods to find your next investment property.

Henry is our go-to deal-finding expert and has bought over 100 houses using strategies just like these. These deal-finding tactics are so beginner-friendly that you can...

Get a good corporate job, save some money, and start investing ASAP. If you’re going to buy a house, do it here. That’s Scott Galloway’s advice, or, as you may know him, Prof. G. Entrepreneur, NYU Stern School of Business professor, and author of The Algebra of Wealth. 

Scott has gotten wealthy three times because, per his own words, he’s gone broke twice. After launching numerous companies, working as an investment banker, and becoming a bestselling author, he’s earned the right to share his contrarian takes on what’s about to happ...

You don’t need to buy dozens of rental properties to have financial freedom. And if you ask today’s guest, less is usually more.

For over a decade, John Crutchfield was in full-on acquisition mode. Despite starting with very little money, he scaled to over 600 units across multiple states and tens of millions of dollars’ worth of real estate. He even quit his job to focus on his portfolio full-time!

But then the market changed. Interest rates spiked, debt became more expensive, and John’s expenses ballooned. He had over...

We’re always talking about cash flow, appreciation, and loan paydown, but tax benefits are some of the most understated and overlooked advantages of real estate investing. Do you want to pay less in taxes and keep more of your hard-earned money from the IRS? Dave’s bringing you seven of the best tax strategies that could help you save thousands each year!

Today, Dave’s breaking down an example property and putting each of these tax strategies to the test. We’ll look at how much money they could save you and how they fit...

You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room to build wealth through real estate. But you do need patience, discipline, and a willingness to play the long game. Real estate won’t make you rich overnight, but it’s incredibly forgiving—meaning you can make mistakes, lose money in the short term, and still come out on top.

Apolo Ohno understands this concept better than most, having dedicated his entire youth to becoming a short-track speed skater. He reached the pinnacle of the sport, competing in three Winter Olympic Games and taki...

Lawrence “Landlord Larry” Guerguis thought he would spend the next 40 years of his life in finance. But one conversation with a regretful investment banker changed his life’s trajectory and set him on a path toward financial freedom through real estate investing. Just three years later, he owns 40 rental properties producing thousands in monthly cash flow!

Once Larry realized the impact that rental properties could have on his wealth, time, lifestyle, and flexibility, he wasted no time in buying his first rental property. While still in college, he sold his car, scrounged together a down p...

More homes are for sale now than any time in the past six years. Mortgage rates just shot up to above 7% with no relief in sight. Markets are seeing (substantial) price cuts, and there could be much more to come this winter. So, is a crash on the way, or is this lukewarm correction simply becoming something stronger than we had imagined?

In this September 2026 housing market update, we’ll cover it all! First, we’ll talk about the massive change in mortgage rates this month, what’s caused it, and whether any relief is on...

Imagine getting 10% off your next rental property (on the low end). What about getting a rate in the 3% or 4% range, or putting only 5%-15% down on a property that’s not only affordable but also in the path of progress? As interest rates climb higher and buyers step back, investors have opportunities that haven’t been available in years, and in 2027, these opportunities could get even better.

Today, we’re talking with another rental property investing veteran (literally), Zach Lemaster. Zach spent years as an Air Force optometrist, using a 5%-down loan to kickstart his ow...

Real estate investing won’t make you rich overnight. But keep at it for long enough, and it will make you very wealthy.

Philip Henry had been doing all the right things: buying a rental property every year, renovating it, raising rent, and then rolling his home equity into the next deal. Yet after nearly 15 years, he had very little to show for it, and the stress and workload were beginning to take a toll on his health and relationships.

Right when others would have given up, the real es...

This is how to buy a small multifamily rental property the right way. It’s not hard, it’s not complicated, and it’s (arguably) one of the best residential real estate investments to make right now. Why? Safer financing, faster scale, and bigger cash flow. Unlike single-family rentals, small multifamily real estate was designed to make you money, and the returns clearly show that.

So how do you get your first duplex, triplex, or quadplex this year? Today, Dave is walking through each step you need to take.

From f...

Most investors follow the same path—buy a single-family rental, learn the ropes, and upgrade to small multifamily, slowly snowballing the portfolio. But what if you could take the leap from your first deal, skipping single-family entirely and buying a sizable rental property portfolio on investment #1? If you had no experience, it could change your life overnight—so is it worth it?

We’re back answering real questions from the BiggerPockets Forums, and we’ve got a special guest—Chauncey Pham, the making-six-figures-per-deal investor! First, an investor has enough cash to buy a decent-sized multifamil...

Kent Long wanted passive income. The problem? All those gurus and guides online were only selling a fantasy. The one thing that seemed to actually generate income: real estate. When a property that could easily be split into two units came on the market, Kent jumped at the chance. Little did he know this $14,000 down payment would become an entire real estate portfolio that would help him retire early from his job.

At 46, Kent bought his first rental property (just two years ago, in 2024). The purchase price? A mere $70,000. With a small renovation, this...

Investors have used the same proven formula for decades: Buy a discounted property, renovate it, and increase its value by tens or sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s a simple investing strategy, and yet it’s one of the best ways to get rich through real estate investing.

But there’s a catch that too many investors miss. You can’t renovate just anything; you have to renovate the right things. After over 100 real estate deals, Henry knows exactly what moves the needle, and in part two of our series on estimati...

A real estate deal may look like a home run on paper, but you can’t know for certain until you’ve walked the property and uncovered exactly what needs to be fixed!

Budgeting for renovations is one of the things that trips new investors up, which is why we’re bringing you a two-part series on estimating rehab costs. In part one, we’re taking a deep dive into the “big five”—the five major home systems that can make or break your next investment. We’re covering everything from roof to foundation, and even a bonus...

JPMorgan Chase, America’s largest bank, just made a big bet on housing—a $750B bet to be exact. At a time when most people hope home prices will fall, JPMorgan is gearing up to lend and invest in a huge way. Could this be a sign that those who buy now will be thanking themselves in the years to come? We’re getting into the details in today’s show.

On the Market is here with a housing market update! First, we’re touching on whether or not the market has already peaked in 2026. W...

The top 1% of real estate investors don’t have a “secret” market, a “better” investing strategy, or access to “exclusive” resources. They just do nine things better than most other investors—boring, repeatable habits that make you rich over time.

This is what separates successful investors from those who never quite reach their goals, flame out after a deal or two, or stay stuck on the sidelines. Many of these habits are much simpler than you think—things like investing consistently, being patient, and treating real estate investing like an actual business—yet most investors don’t do a...

The rules of real estate investing have changed.

For years, investors were using the one-percent rule to quickly determine if a real estate deal would cash flow. But the one-percent rule, rent-to-price ratio, and other common rules of thumb have a glaring blind spot. They account for purchase price, but they don’t account for expenses.

Meanwhile, mortgage rates, taxes, and insurance have all risen across the board—expenses that can easily kill your cash flow.

So, Dave’s come up with a new rule o...

In just under six years, Bryan Field built a 100% remote real estate investment portfolio producing over $65,000 per year in cash flow. He bought properties sight unseen, chose markets that made the most money, and routinely reinvested his home equity. He started with zero real estate experience, and his first real investment went way over budget, but he bounced back and has already replaced a sizable chunk of his salary.

Stuck in San Diego, Bryan knew he wanted to invest, but not in the million-dollar houses around him. The best bet? Move to a cheaper...

Is it better to buy an existing property with value-add potential or a new construction home in 2026?

For years, there was no debate. The ability to buy a property at a discount, add value through renovations, force appreciation, and recycle your money made the BRRRR method a no-brainer for most investors.

But in 2026, things are a little different. Builders are sitting on inventory, which means new homes are being sold for less than we’ve seen in years. Not to mention, builders are giving buyers massive incentives like mortgage ra...

You’ve saved up some money and are ready to buy your first rental property. Now comes the question: How much do you put down? Do you buy multiple cheaper properties or splurge and put the entire down payment into one bigger, arguably more stable rental? Should you start to scale from the jump or test the real estate investing waters before committing more money? After buying dozens of rental units, Dave and Henry have a clear opinion.

We’re back with your questions from the BiggerPockets Forums! A real estate rookie is wondering whet...

Three years ago, Andres Martinez was waiting tables. Today, he owns 10 rental properties, manages another four, and has a rental portfolio that brings in over $13,000 in monthly cash flow. He’s even been able to quit his job and focus on his rentals full-time. But how did he pull all of this off—and in such little time?

Early on, Andres had one goal: maximize the cash flow on every property he bought. This led him to co-living, an investing strategy where you have multiple tenants under the same roof. The cash flow was so s...

The BRRRR method is not dead—far from it. In fact, it’s still one of my absolute favorite investing strategies today. But in 2026, you need to change how you use it.

I’m about to show you a variation of the traditional BRRRR that gives you all the upside and scalability you’d expect from one of these deals, but with far less risk, more time, and greater flexibility. And in this housing market? That’s exactly what you need.

I’m talking about the “slow” BRRRR. The steps are simila...

Today, we’re showing you exactly how to learn about real estate investing, so you can get your first property faster.

There are thousands of videos, podcasts, books, and forums floating around. Where do you even start? The amount of information alone is enough to keep you stuck on the sidelines. Not to mention, there’s a lot of bad information out there.

In this episode, we’re giving you a clear roadmap for getting all the information you need before buying your first rental property.

...

People say it’s just too hard to find real estate deals in 2026, but today’s guest is proving them all wrong. He’s already bought four rental properties that make over $6,000 in monthly cash flow, and he’s been investing in real estate for just eight months.

Joe Crocker is eager to trade his 70-hour workweek for financial freedom, and he’s on track to replace his W-2 income with rental cash flow in the next two years. He’s not finding these properties by building lists, cold calling, or sending mailers. These are regular...

Want to rent out your house? This is how to do it right: get the best tenants and the highest rent. 

For most Americans, renting out their previous primary residence will be their first experience in real estate investing. Thankfully, renting out your house like a professional is not hard; you just have to follow a few key steps that inexperienced investors will completely skip over. Today, Dave is sharing his step-by-step guide to renting out your home, even if you have no experience, even if you’re self-managing.

Fro...

The “regular” rental property you’re thinking of buying? It may not look like anything special here in 2026, but it could be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars more down the road—IF it has any of the high-upside qualities we’re about to show you.

For the last 18 months, I’ve said that this is real estate investing’s era of “upside.” The “easy” real estate deals you could buy in 2015-2022 are long gone, and what we’re left with are a lot of seemingly unspectacular properties—but ones with hidden upside that is...