Want financial freedom through real estate investing? Then the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast is for you. Sit down every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with D...
The Expert Investor: Early Retirement is a Mistake, Rent INSTEAD of Buying!
Why does this veteran real estate investor say that early retirement and financial freedom are a bad idea? Why does he think renting, NOT buying a house, makes more sense for most Americans in 2025? And what’s the one mistake that lost him hundreds of thousands of dollars even after being an experienced investor for decades? Jonathan Greene, one of our favorite repeat guests, is back on the show to share.
Jonathan’s father, a serial real estate investor, taught him everything about rental properties early on. Together, they walked potential properties, snuck into foreclosed homes, reviewed the profits and figures line by line, and even dealt with evictions together. This equipped Jonathan with the skills to not only build generational wealth for his family but also financial freedom for himself. However, once he achieved it, Jonathan realized that early financial freedom wasn’t worth it. But why?
This episode looks into the mind of one of the most experienced investors in the entire industry. Jonathan shares why he still decided to work even after building a real estate portfolio, the investment he made that cost him severely, why he’s moving his money into a more “passive” investment, the reason renting makes MORE sense than buying in 2025, and what a beginner should do RIGHT NOW to start investing in real estate.
In This Episode We Cover:
The reason Jonathan says early retirement/financial freedom is a mistake
One thing every beginner to real estate investing should be doing right now
Jonathan’s huge loss and the lessons he learned about pricing yourself too high
Renting vs. buying and the obvious choice for most Americans in 2025
What to teach your kids about real estate investing and generational wealth
And So Much More!
Links from the Show
Join BiggerPockets for FREE
Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show!
Ask Your Question on the BiggerPockets Forums
Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat
The House Hacking Strategy
The Passive Real Estate Investing Show
Listen to Jonathan’s Podcast, Zen and the Art of Real Estate Investing
Invest in Turnkey Properties with REI Nation
Grab the Syndication Investing Book, “The Hands-Off Investor”
Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area
Renting a Home Is Financially Better Than Buying—Wait, What?!
Connect with Jonathan
Connect with Dave
Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1054
Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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43:19
BiggerNews: The 2024 Housing Market in Review (What’s Coming Next?)
The 2024 housing market was nothing short of "wild," to put it lightly. We came from years of unprecedented growth, rock-bottom mortgage rates, and fiery homebuyer demand. While some predicted a housing market crash, we were quite sure that real estate prices would stay stable—and that’s precisely what happened! So, before we enter the 2025 housing market, we’re recapping 2024 with all its trends and surprises so you don’t get caught off guard next year!
We’re touching on the big topics: prices, inventory, affordability, best and worst markets, and the commercial real estate crash. Why did prices RISE even when buyer demand fell significantly? Why did the existing housing inventory stay so low? And is now the best time to buy multifamily after its massive value drop in 2024?
Get prepared to make 2025 your best year yet, but don’t make the same mistakes of the past. Stick around; we’re giving you your 2024 housing market in review!
In This Episode We Cover:
The biggest trends (and surprises) of the 2024 housing market
Why did home prices rise in 2024 even with buyer demand so low?
Our affordability crisis keeping many Americans renting instead of buying
The commercial real estate crash and why multifamily is seriously struggling now
Hottest (and coldest) real estate markets that nobody would have expected
The cities that are seeing the most rent price growth (and some with the least)
And So Much More!
Links from the Show
Join BiggerPockets for FREE
Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show!
Ask Your Question on the BiggerPockets Forums
Grab Dave’s New Book, “Start with Strategy”
Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area
How to Invest in Real Estate in 2025 (with NO Experience)
Connect with Dave
Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1053
Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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28:22
From the Forums: One Thing That Most Beginner Investors Should NOT Do
Should you borrow money for your first real estate deal? We’re not talking about taking an interest-free loan from your mom; we mean using “private money” to finance your investment. This type of investment property financing is usually reserved for the more experienced investors, but is it a bad idea for someone with such little experience? Is there another way to finance your first deal that gives you more wiggle room if you make a mistake?
This is just one of the BiggerPockets Forum questions we’re answering today from investors like you. One investor on her second rental wants to know whether bankruptcy or late payments is an immediate red flag in a tenant application. She’s struggling to fill up her property, so should she take on a tenant with sub-optimal finances? What do you do when you inherit a tenant paying substantially under-market rent? How do you raise rents the right way?
Finally, Henry the house flipper shares his thoughts on the 70% rule and gives his own house-flipping formula you can perform on the spot to see if your deal is a steal!
Looking to invest? Need answers? Ask your question on the BiggerPockets Forums!
In This Episode We Cover:
Whether you should or shouldn’t borrow private money for your first real estate deal
Tenant red flags and what to do when you’re struggling to fill a vacancy
Raising rents on inherited tenants and why we DON’T ask for market rates
How to attract better tenants to your rental property (and whether to lower the price)
Henry’s house-flipping formula that beats the 70% rule calculation
And So Much More!
Links from the Show
Join BiggerPockets for FREE
Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show!
Ask Your Question on the BiggerPockets Forums
Grab Henry’s New Book, “Real Estate Deal Maker”
Find Investor-Friendly Lenders
The Comprehensive Guide for Financing Your Very First Real Estate Deal
Connect with Henry
Connect with Dave
(00:51) Use Private Money for FIRST Deal?
(06:21) Tenant Red Flags
(11:24) How to Attract Tenants
(13:47) Raising Rents on Inherited Tenants
(19:55) Ditch the 70% Rule?
(27:54) Ask Your Question!
Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1052
Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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35:35
The “Dirt Floor to $80K/Month” Investor is BACK (and She’s Gone BIGGER!)
Yamundow Camara grew up in The Gambia. After losing her parents at a young age, she was taken in by relatives who forced her to sleep on a dirt floor and treated her like a constant burden. Fast forward to 2024, Yamundow has over one hundred rental units and makes hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) in passive income yearly. She STILL works a W2 while running her real estate portfolio. If she could do it, you can, too.
If you missed Yamundow’s first episode, we highly recommend listening to it after this one. She goes into great detail on her troubling upbringing, moving to the US, and buying her first real estate deal. Now, she’s gone bigger…much bigger—scaling from thirty-two units to over 150 rental units in just over a year. And she’s not just in residential real estate anymore.
Yamundow discusses the deals she’s bought, the hellish renovation project she went through, and her newest commercial real estate asset—a cash-flowing self-storage facility that takes just thirty minutes a week to manage! Yamundow is the epitome of “rags to riches.” We guarantee you’ll be inspired to invest after you hear this one!
In This Episode We Cover:
Going from complete poverty to millionaire by scaling smart in real estate
Why Yamundow started investing in self-storage recently instead of rentals
The reason Yamundow STILL has her W2 job (and thinks you should NOT quit!)
What to do when the city government is ruining your renovation plans
Finding real estate deals for sale on…Facebook? Here’s how Yamundow does it
Sponsoring orphans, writing a book, and Yamundow's big TV show dreams
And So Much More!
Links from the Show
Join BiggerPockets for FREE
Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show!
Shop the BiggerPockets Bookstore Black Friday SALE
Interested in Self-Storage Investing? Grab the Book, “Storing Up Profits”
Find Investor-Friendly Lenders
From Sleeping on the Floor to Making $80K/Month (in 2 Years!)
Connect with Yamundow
Connect with Dave
(00:00) Intro
(01:22) Sleeping on Dirt Floors After Losing Everything
(04:55) 32 Units While Working a W2!
(09:15) Inspiring Others to Invest
(10:27) A Hellish 12-Unit Renovation
(15:27) Financing and Working with Contractors
(18:13) BIG Section 8 Cash Flow
(20:54) Getting into Self Storage Investments
(25:36) Supporting Her Family
(29:58) What's Next?
Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1051
Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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43:15
This Could Be Like Getting into Airbnb in 2012
While short-term rentals are seeing slowing demand, mid-term rentals are taking off (and fast). Mid-term rentals, also called medium-term rentals or MTRs, are thirty-day or longer stays, usually for traveling professionals or those who need temporary housing while relocating. These rentals give you more rent than a regular long-term rental, less turnover than short-term rentals, and can be successful in even the most average of markets. Where are MTRs heading next? We brought on Jeff Hurst, CEO of the leading MTR listing website Furnished Finder, to share the data he’s seeing.
Jeff believes MTRs are still years away from peaking in demand and supply. But maybe he’s a little biased as someone who works in the field. Even as an industry insider, Jeff brought some solid stats that show that MTR is far from falling off the investing map. He’s so bullish on this strategy that he believes MTR is now where Airbnb was in 2012. But what should you do to get in on MTR investing?
Jeff shares the best MTR markets and signs for whether or not your city could be a great place to try it, plus the surprising property type that works best for this strategy (MUCH more affordable than short-term rentals) and how landlords and investors can find tenants WITHOUT going through pricey booking platforms.
In This Episode We Cover:
The state of the mid-term rental market and why it’s looking much brighter than short-term rentals
Mid-term rental investing explained, and who’s staying at these properties
Why rural markets actually make terrific mid-term rental investing areas
How to start investing in mid-term rentals WITHOUT owning a single property (rental arbitrage)
How to find tenants for your mid-term rentals without paying high listing fees
The (surprisingly) small property types that work best for mid-term rentals
And So Much More!
Links from the Show
Join BiggerPockets for FREE
Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show!
Shop the BiggerPockets Bookstore Black Friday SALE
Grab the MTR Book, “30-Day Stay”
Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area
How to Invest in Medium-Term Rentals
Connect with Henry
Furnished Finder Stats
Connect with Dave
(00:00) Intro
(03:10) What Are Mid-Term Rentals?
(07:33) Mid-Term Demand is Still Growing
(12:18) Best Mid-Term Markets
(20:39) Are We Past the Peak?
(22:46) Finding Tenants
(26:38) Fewer Regulations?
(32:42) Bullish on Mid-Term’s Future
Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1050
Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected].
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Want financial freedom through real estate investing? Then the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast is for you. Sit down every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with Dave Meyer, the Head of Real Estate at BiggerPockets, as he uncovers tried and true tactics and shares candid conversations with real estate investors who are building wealth in today’s market. Join Dave to walk through deals that went right (and wrong) and learn the strategies you can deploy—start growing your side income today to take control of your financial future.