How A Young Investor Built A Large Rental Portfolio With Zach Shepard (Ep 551)

Rental Income Podcast With Dan Lane

Rental Income Podcast

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 836 Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Zach started buying rentals at 21 with no family money, no partners, and no roadmap. He didn’t come from a real estate background, but he taught himself creative financing and pushed forward deal by deal. In just two years, he built a large rental portfolio that now includes more than 100 properties.

On this episode, Zach walks us through exactly how he did it. He shares how he built a trustworthy team to handle construction and property management, and why setting clear goals played a huge role in keeping him on track.

We also talk about how making networking a priority opened doors he didn’t know existed. Zach breaks down the creative financing strategies that fueled his growth, including seller financing, raising money from private investors, and the BRRRR strategy.

If you want to see what’s possible when you combine hustle, creativity, and consistent action, Zach’s story is one you don’t want to miss.

https://rentalincomepodcast.com/episode551

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Inspiring interviews with today's top landlords.
0:04.7	This is the Rental Income podcast.
0:07.7	And now, Dan Lane.
0:09.6	Zach, let me make sure I get this right.
0:12.2	So you're 23 and you've got 100 rentals.
0:16.3	Yep, that's right.
0:17.1	Did you have any partners that helped you do this?
0:23.1	I've got a couple properties, a few properties with a partner, but 90% of it or so is just me. Did you have a bunch of family money
0:30.5	when you got started or did you win the lottery or something? Nope, I just sort of figured out
0:36.3	the creative finance world and the real estate
0:40.1	financing world and kept kind of skill in the business and trying to learn new things.
0:44.3	Zach started buying rental properties two years ago when he was 21 years old. And today he's
0:51.0	got over 100 doors. And on the show today, we're going to figure out how he did it.
0:57.1	Joining us on the show from Lynchburg, Virginia is Zach Shepherd. We'll take a quick break to
1:02.2	thank our sponsors. We'll come right back and we'll talk to Zach. It's a lot of work to find a
1:07.3	really good rental property. And when you actually find that property, you want to make
1:11.0	sure you're working with a lender that can get that loan closed. The lender that I recommend is
1:16.4	Chaley Ridge from Ridge Lending Group. She's a nationwide lender, and her specialty is helping investors
1:22.9	finance rental properties. She has a ton of loan programs and she can find something customized to you
1:29.0	for your situation. If you want to find out more or you're ready to get started today, just go to
1:34.3	ridgelendinggroup.com. That's R-I-D-G-E lending group.com. NMLS 42056. Are you thinking about
1:43.9	investing in rental properties, but maybe you don't know where to start?
	...

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