I Started Buying Rentals at 46. By 50, They’ll Replace My Salary.

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

There's a point where basically every investor realizes traditional financing stops scaling with you. At first, it works. You qualify with your income, your job, your tax returns. But as you grow, that model starts to break. Now, it's not really about your personal income. It's about the income from your properties. That's where DSCR lending comes in. And it's why a lot of investors end up working with lenders like Host Financial. Host Financial qualifies deals based on property income, not personal income. So you're not dealing with W-2s or tax returns or DTI constraints. And with 80 to 85% LTV, you can stay more flexible as you scale. It's just a different framework, one that tends to align better with how investing actually works. If you're buying rentals, refinancing or growing your portfolio, go to hostfinancial.com. That's hostfinancial.com and see what you qualify for.

Some listeners may wonder why their insurance quote only took 30 seconds. Some listeners may wonder why their insurance quote took 30 seconds. A better question is, how long will that policy actually hold up when you need it? At NREG, the goal isn't just getting coverage in place. It's making sure your investment property is properly protected when a real claim happens. That's why they take time to evaluate each property's unique risks and build coverage design for the realities investors face. Because anyone can sell a policy, NREG focuses on standing behind it. Visit nreig.com/bplc to learn more.

Henry Washington (1:38)

If you own rental properties, you know the job does not stop at closing. There's tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance calls, and the paperwork that comes up with all of it. If you're managing more than one to two doors, that workload adds up fast. That's where MIND, BiggerPockets Preferred Full Service Property Management Partner comes in. MIND is built specifically for real estate investors, with experienced property management teams, local market expertise, and purpose-built technology. They support leasing, rent collection, maintenance coordination, and reporting. Whether you're managing one rental or scaling towards your tenth, MIND is built to grow with you. It frees up your time to focus on finding your next deal instead of fielding maintenance calls, and it's not just about time. If you're a BiggerPockets Pro member, MIND will save you $500 for every home you onboard, up to $10,000 in your first year. Check mind.co to save time, money, and frustration. That's mynd.co.

Kent Long bought his first rental property at 46 years old, just two years ago in 2024 By the time he's 50, he'll have a real estate portfolio that will retire him early. He did all this while working in 9 to 5, on the road three to four days per week, and without a ton of his own savings. Kent began looking for passive income streams, but all the internet gurus and guides turned out to be selling a fantasy. After hitting a breaking point, Kent saw a house on the market with enough square footage to convert it into two units. This would turn into the beginning of an investing career Kent never imagined. With just $14,000 down, Kent turned one down payment into four properties. Making him $5,500 a month in cash flow. And he did it all in just two years. Now he's close to fully replacing his salary with rentals, allowing him to retire from his job at age 50, 15 years before traditional retirement age. He did it all starting in 2024 So if you think you're late to real estate, this is your sign to get in the game.

What's going on, everybody? I am Henry Washington, co-host of the BiggerPockets Podcast, and today we're bringing you an investor story with Kent Long from Altoona, Pennsylvania. Let's bring him on.

Kent Long, welcome to the BiggerPockets Podcast.

Kent Long (4:00)

Henry, I'm honored to be here, honestly. BiggerPockets has been a huge part of my real estate journey.

Henry Washington (4:06)

Well, why don't you start there? Tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into real estate in the first place.

Kent Long (4:12)

Starting off, I was always looking for passive income. So unfortunately, just life costs so much money.

So to live normally, you have to have extra income coming in. So my initial thought process was I read Tim Ferriss, four-hour work week, and I started an Amazon business. So I made two products on Amazon and I had two different manufacturers in China that would send stuff directly to Amazon. So ideally, it makes sense. Then that's totally passive. You watch all the YouTubers and they say how easy it is, and you can make extra thousand bucks per unit that you're selling. The kicker is, it costs so much money to advertise on Amazon that you don't make any money. So then after that, I stumbled on BiggerPockets and started listening to just kind of real estate. I've always been like Mr. Fix-It at home and can fix things. And my dad's a union carpenter, so I've always had a background of building and fixing things. And then about two years ago, when I was going through kind of a bad divorce, I had an option and I could either rent, because my wife was sleeping in the house, or I could look at either flipping a house, kind of live in flip, or buy a property that I could fix up and then pull some equity out. So that's kind of my initial dive into it.