Making $6,000/Month Cash Flow from 4 Rental Properties in Just 8 Months

**Henry Washington** (0:00)
Today's guest owns four rental properties that generate over $6,000 in monthly cash flow. And get this, he's been investing in real estate for only eight months. People keep saying it's just too hard to find real estate deals in 2026, but Joe Crocker is clearly proving them wrong. He's not finding these properties by building lists or cold calling or even sending mailers. These are regular deals right off the MLS, deals that you or I or anyone else can find. He buys a property, adds some value, pulls his money out, and buys the next one. That's it. Nothing complicated, nothing flashy, just a simple strategy that works.
Plenty of people are sitting on the sidelines, convinced they can't get into the game. Meanwhile, Joe has already completed multiple deals this year, and he's about to close on his best one yet. He's even on track to quit his W-2 in the next two years, trading a grueling 70-hour workweek for the thing most investors are chasing, a cash-flowing rental portfolio that gives you more money, time, and freedom.
Hey, everyone. I am Henry Washington here, co-host of the BiggerPockets Podcast. Today, we're bringing you an investor story with Joe Crocker from Houston, Texas, who just started investing but is already well on his way to replacing his income with real estate. Let's bring him on.
Mr. Joe Crocker, welcome to the show.

**Joe Crocker** (1:30)
Hey, thank you.

**Henry Washington** (1:31)
Well, Mr. Joe, why don't we start off and tell us a little bit about your background and what got you into real estate in the first place?

**Joe Crocker** (1:38)
Sure.
My background is long. I'm not a young man, so but I'll give you the highlights. I have a W-2 job that keeps me on the road a lot. Due to that, I had to relocate recently and the last year. Came down to the Houston, Texas area and started research in real estate. I started studying the Burr method particularly, was what I honed in on.
I work with my mom and my wife both helped me out because I'm on the road a lot. So mom came down, we went and looked at some property, said, hey, let's do it. So we closed our first transaction in December of last year.

**Henry Washington** (2:14)
Why don't you tell us what traveling a lot means to you? Because I think it's important to your story.

**Joe Crocker** (2:21)
Okay, yeah, it is. So traveling a lot for me means I'm on the road about 300 nights a year.

**Henry Washington** (2:26)
That's wild.

**Joe Crocker** (2:28)
And I work six 12-hour days.

**Henry Washington** (2:31)
You work six 12s and you travel 300 days a year?

**Joe Crocker** (2:35)
Correct, yeah.

**Henry Washington** (2:36)
There's a lot of people that are listening that want to get into real estate and they think they don't have the time to fit this into their schedule.

**Joe Crocker** (2:44)
Well, my mom helps me a lot, so you need a good mother.

**Henry Washington** (2:47)
Yes, yes, everybody does it with some sort of help. That is very true. You said you moved to Houston and you started researching real estate, but why?
What made you look into real estate at all? Why was that even on your mind?

**Joe Crocker** (3:00)
It's been on my mind prior to being in my current career. I worked in commercial construction, so I've been around real estate a lot throughout my life and have done well on personal properties. And so part of it also is with that lifestyle I just described, I'm getting older, I don't want to do that forever. So it's kind of a backup plan, I guess, you would say, is trying to plan my exit. And so I had to come here for work and I saw some opportunities and decided to jump in with both feet, so to speak.

**Henry Washington** (3:30)
Did you have a goal getting started or did you just want to jump in?

**Joe Crocker** (3:33)
Well, yes, to both of those things. I would look on Zillow and for about two months, probably I would go every night and I would just go drive properties that I saw and just check out the area and see what I like. I just kind of get familiar. And then it got to a point where we just went, hey, you know what, you got to pull the trigger. And so we made offers on several properties and ended up with actually buying two at the same time. And so, yes, we definitely jumped in with both feet.

**Henry Washington** (4:01)
It's one thing to say making offers, but it's another thing to be making the right offer. So you have to know how to analyze the deals and what makes a good deal in the first place. Was all that new to you or were you studying and analyzing prior to just making offers?