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BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

Chad Carson: How to Retire with the Fewest Rentals Possible in 2026

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

BiggerPockets

Business, Education, Investing

4.816.5K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You do not need a huge rental property portfolio to retire early. Today, Chad Carson (Coach Carson) will prove it, explaining how to retire with the fewest rentals possible. Trust him, because he’s already done it with fewer rentals than you’d think. Chad ditched the “buy 100 doors” mentality in exchange for fewer rentals, fewer headaches, and way more cash flow. Now, in his 40s and years into his lifestyle of two-hour workweeks, Chad has more than enough passive income to provide for his family, go on long (often up to a year at a time) international trips with his wife and children, and grow the wealth that will sustain him through traditional retirement age. Thousands have copied his “small and mighty” approach, as Chad’s name has become synonymous with “make more doing less.” Today, Chad is showing you how to do it in 2026, even if you only have five hours a week to dedicate to investing, even with today’s home prices and mortgage rates, and even if you’re starting with zero experience. Plus, the best properties for beginners and experienced investors, the exact deals he’s purchasing in 2026, and why now may be the best buying opportunity in years. In This Episode We Cover: How to retire early with the fewest rentals possible in 2026 The best real estate investing strategy for a beginner with limited free time Why Chad believes there is more “opportunity” for investing in 2026 than in previous years Put more money down? Plus, why Chad strongly believes paid off properties beat big portfolios Why “ugly” rental properties will get you to financial independence even faster How to “harvest” your cash flow once you’ve built a big enough portfolio And So Much More!   Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1225 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

You do not need a big, expensive, or time-consuming real estate portfolio to reach financial

0:06.8

freedom.

0:07.7

It is completely possible to build wealth and even replace your entire income with real

0:13.1

estate investing in a way that fits into your lifestyle.

0:17.1

Yes, you can do this even in the 2026 housing market.

0:22.7

Today, we're sharing the mindset and investing principles you need to make real estate investing work for you. Small and mighty

0:28.0

real estate investors, keep listening. Hey, everyone, I'm Dave Meyer, head of real estate investing here at Bigger Pockets, and I'm a rental

0:40.0

property investor, buying rentals for more than 15 years now.

0:43.8

Today on the show, we have one of our all-time most popular guests, someone I am happy to

0:49.6

call a friend, Chad Carson.

0:52.5

You know, Chad from his book, The Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor, or his YouTube channel, Coach Chad Carson. You know Chad from his book, The Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor

0:55.8

or his YouTube channel, Coach Chad Carson. And Chad's big picture real estate investing

1:01.5

philosophy has stayed consistent for as long as I have known him. He's all about setting

1:06.9

realistic goals and growing a portfolio that minimizes your stress levels and enables

1:12.2

the life you want. On this episode, we're going to dive into the exact types of deals

1:16.6

Chad recommends seeking out in 26, even for investors who want to spend not that much time

1:22.8

on their portfolio, maybe five hours per week or less on their real estate investing.

1:27.8

We'll talk about the single real estate skill with the highest potential dollar return you can

1:32.4

learn and practice in 2026 and we'll reveal a couple of the levers you can pull to create

1:38.0

more good deals, even if the numbers that you find on the MLS don't pencil out right away.

1:44.0

Let's bring on Chad.

1:45.7

Chad, welcome back to the Bigger Pockets podcast. Thanks for being here.

...

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