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BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

10 Things We Wish We Knew Before Buying a Rental Property

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

BiggerPockets

Education, Investing, Business

4.816.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2026

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you know these 10 things before you start investing in real estate, you’ll reach financial freedom faster, make more money with fewer rentals, and keep your stress levels in check. But if you don’t, you’ll learn them the hard way, as many investors do. These are the 10 things we wish someone had told us before we started buying rental properties. If you’re like most beginners, you’ve probably got a big goal: 50 rentals in 5 years so that you can be financially free by 30, 40, or 50! Or, you think you’ll buy a handful of rental properties, turn on property management, and coast into the sunset, a millionaire investor with your rentals running on autopilot. What if we told you the reality is very different, but the results are better than you can imagine? Both Dave and Henry reached financial freedom with rental properties in under fifteen years, without falling into the traps most aggressive “investors” do. Today, they’re sharing what actually works, so you can start building the life you dream of and do it all in a decade (or less!). What’s the one skill Dave and Henry regret never learning? Why will chasing cash flow too early delay financial freedom? And why is sticking to your investing goals actually a mistake? In This Episode We Cover The one thing every investor must decide first before buying any investment property  You aren’t an investor: Why thinking like one can hurt your returns (and what to do instead) The real probability of going broke in real estate (stop being scared to invest) One skill that dramatically increases your returns on rental properties  Want 50 doors? 100 rentals? Why Dave and Henry say it doesn’t actually matter how big your portfolio is  Stop focusing on cash flow—this other goal will get you to financial freedom way faster And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠h⁠ttps://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1248 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertise@biggerpockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The biggest risk in real estate isn't buying the wrong property.

0:03.6

It's never buying at all.

0:05.0

The perfect rental property?

0:07.0

It does not exist.

0:09.1

And waiting to find it is costing you thousands of dollars per month.

0:13.2

Most beginners spend months or even years stuck in analysis paralysis.

0:17.6

They're waiting for the perfect deal, the perfect time, or the perfect market.

0:21.7

Meanwhile, they're missing out on years of appreciation and cash flow. But right now, we're going

0:26.7

to tell you the 10 things we wish people had told us before we bought our first rental

0:31.1

properties so you can stop overthinking and start building wealth. If you're watching this

0:35.7

video, you're probably anxious about pulling the trigger.

0:38.7

You're worried about making a mistake, buying the wrong house, or losing money.

0:42.9

I've bought dozens of rental properties I've been investing for 16 years,

0:46.8

and it took me a long time to learn the principles to grow a successful business.

0:52.2

But you don't have to wait.

0:53.8

Here are 10 things about rental property

0:55.8

investing. We wish we knew before we got started. Welcome to Bigger Pockets. I'm Dave Meyer. He's Henry

1:06.7

Washington. So Henry, start us off. What is the number one thing you wish you knew before you bought

1:12.2

your first rental? The number one thing I wish I knew was that goals should dictate your strategy,

1:17.6

not your strategy dictating your goals. Yes. Yes. Thank you. I hear all the time from investors.

1:23.8

I want to be a house flipper or I want to be a landlord or I want to operate short-term

1:28.6

rents.

...

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