meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

6 Numbers You Need to Know Before Buying a Rental Property

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

BiggerPockets

Education, Investing, Business

4.816.6K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2026

⏱️ 38 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There are six numbers you need to know before buying a rental property. We run these numbers before we buy any investment, and knowing all six gives you the highest chance of making money instead of purchasing a headache.  We’ll give you the full list of the six most crucial real estate numbers and how to calculate them so you get the highest return possible. Most new investors skip over most of these, and it costs them—big time. But calculating these in advance lets you know whether you’re buying at the right price, how much you can later sell your property for, if your rents will be high enough for you to cash flow, and whether the deal is even worth holding on to. Plus, we’ll throw in a bonus metric you can easily calculate that quickly shows you whether a rental property, fix-and-flip, BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat), or any other deal is actually worth the effort you’re going to put in.  In short, if you know these six numbers, you can confidently make a move on that first or next investment property.  In This Episode We Cover Do NOT trust the list price! How to tell if the property you’re buying is overpriced, underpriced, or just right  The one thing every real estate deal must have for Henry to buy it (it’s not cash flow) How to price rent (the right way) and ensure you’re going to cash flow  The single most overlooked expense that can ruin almost any real estate deal  Stop trusting "cash flow." This metric works much better at calculating returns  And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1244 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

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

These are the six numbers you need to know before buying a rental property.

0:04.9

Too many investors are still buying properties based on vibes in 2026.

0:10.5

They say stuff like, it feels like a good deal, or it'll cash flow if mortgage rates come down.

0:16.4

That is not investing. That's speculation.

0:20.3

Today, we're going to walk you through the six numbers

0:22.6

you absolutely need to know before you buy any rental property, whether it's your first deal

0:28.2

or your 15th. These are the numbers we personally look at when analyzing properties so we can

0:33.6

make sure we're picking the properties that bring us closer to financial freedom

0:37.7

and avoid the costly mistakes that slow you down.

0:41.3

By the end of this episode, you'll know which metrics to prioritize when running your numbers,

0:45.7

exactly how to calculate each one and how all six fit together to tell you whether a deal is actually worth buying.

0:59.1

Music together to tell you whether a deal is actually worth buying. What's up, everyone? I'm Dave Meyer, chief investment officer at Bigger Pockets, here with my co-host,

1:05.1

Henry Washington. Henry, how's it going, man?

1:07.6

It's going well, bud. How are you?

1:09.1

Good. I'm excited to talk about

1:11.3

numbers, as I'm guessing you can tell you. You know this about me that this is what gets me going in

1:16.9

the morning, is talking about numbers. Well, you all probably know that as well. I love numbers.

1:21.6

And between the two of us, between Henry and I, we have analyzed probably thousands of real

1:25.9

estate deals. And I can tell you that the difference

1:28.7

between investors who build wealth and investors who stall out usually comes down to

1:34.0

understanding their numbers. Henry, we talk about this all the time. A good deal is just

1:38.6

kind of simple math problem at the end of the day. Yeah, if you're buying a deal on today's

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BiggerPockets, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BiggerPockets and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.