BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

How to Make More Passive Income with Fewer Rentals (& ACTUALLY Retire Early) w/Chad Carson

Jan 20, 2025

Chad Carson, a "small and mighty" real estate investor, discusses how to achieve financial freedom with fewer rental properties. He shares his journey of downsizing his portfolio to focus on lifestyle and family, now working just two hours a week. Chad outlines the three critical phases of investing, particularly the ‘harvesting’ phase that enables early retirement. He emphasizes optimizing portfolios for financial and time freedom, and the importance of adaptability in achieving personal goals in real estate.

47:38

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Episode guests

Chad Carson

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Chad Carson emphasizes that focusing on cash flow and creating a sustainable lifestyle is more crucial than continually acquiring rental properties.

The podcast outlines three investment phases—starting, growth, and harvesting—with the harvesting phase being essential for achieving financial freedom.

Chad highlights the importance of flexibility and patience in real estate investing, urging investors to adapt their strategies to enhance long-term success.

Deep dives

Achieving Financial Independence Through Real Estate

Real estate investment provides a pathway to financial independence, where rental properties generate income as tenants pay rent. When this rental income matches the cash flow from a regular job, individuals can retire and rely on their real estate portfolio. Chad Carson exemplifies this concept, as he has successfully transitioned from a full-time job to managing a medium-sized portfolio with minimal effort. With careful planning and smart decisions over decades, he achieves a lifestyle that allows him to travel and pursue personal interests.

Intro

2min

Cultivating Wealth Through Real Estate

16min

Optimizing Real Estate Portfolios for Financial Freedom

5min

Evolving Strategies in Real Estate Investing

6min

Transitioning to Passive Income and Investment Strategies

4min

Navigating the Harvester Phase

14min

Want to retire early? Then, STOP buying rental properties. You heard that right; buying more rental properties may actually push you further away from early retirement IF you’ve crossed a certain threshold. Today’s guest proves you don’t need dozens of rental properties to reach financial freedom. Chad Carson, the “small and mighty” investor, is back to share why he scaled down his rental portfolio and now only works two hours a week because of it!

Don’t know Chad? He’s the investor who did it right. After building a real estate business way too big for his liking, he and his partner thought, “Is this the life we dreamed of?” It wasn’t, so they began scaling down, only keeping the properties they loved and selling the rest. Now, Chad does what he wants full-time, including traveling the world and living abroad with his family, coaching other investors, and spending a fraction of his waking hours on his rental property portfolio. This is an investor who has actually retired early with real estate.

Want to copy Chad’s blueprint to financial freedom in just ten to fifteen years? He’s sharing the three “phases” every investor goes through, including the most important one—the “harvesting” phase that allows you to retire early. How do you get to the “harvest” after all your hard work, and what should you do once you get there to unlock ultimate financial freedom? Chad is sharing it all, step-by-step, in this episode.

In This Episode We Cover:

How to retire early with fewer rental properties than you’d think

The three “phases” of financial freedom investing (and how long it’ll take to retire early)

How to start building your real estate portfolio even if you have no money or experience

Why cash flow is far less important than you think when building a rental portfolio

Why Chad sells some of his successful rental properties to pay off others (this is a cheat code!)

Three tools you can use to start “harvesting” your portfolio and retire early

And So Much More!

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