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BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

Turning a $25,000 Rental Property into a $5,000/Month Rental Portfolio

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

BiggerPockets

Education, Business, Investing

4.816.5K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This investor turned a $25,000 rental property (yes, you read that right) into a real estate portfolio producing $5,000/month in actual cash flow. He had no experience, lived in a small town many would write off, and was working 60 hours a week. But small towns mean less competition and lower prices, and Dustin Cardenas was ready to take advantage. Seven years later, he’s financially free thanks to his small rental portfolio! Dustin’s small town of 30,000 people is located in one of the most affordable parts of the country. Houses routinely sell for $30,000 to $50,000, a down payment for many investors across the US. He’s what you’d call an “everyman”—he’s worked in pest control, as a car salesman, and in a juvenile detention facility. In other words, he had no silver spoon. When a local investor in town told him, “You can do this,” he took the chance. Now, seven years later, he’s got 20 rental units, left his full-time position at work, and is making a life-changing amount of rental income. These affordable, cash-flowing towns exist throughout the US, and like Dustin, you could use them to reach financial freedom!  In This Episode We Cover The uber-affordable small Midwest towns where rentals are less than $50,000 The perfect starter real estate investment Dustin used to scale fast  Why you must ask your bank for a line of credit if you’re ready to invest more  Dustin’s tips to save money on your next rental renovation (huge savings!) Better than Airbnb? Why Dustin ditched his short-term rental and makes phenomenal cash flow with this strategy  And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1183 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

This investor bought his first property for only 25 grand right in his hometown.

0:05.7

Now, his cash flow from real estate averages $5,000 every single month.

0:11.0

He was able to accumulate 20 units in seven years, all while working a day job by maximizing

0:17.1

his own strengths, understanding his local area, and adapting as the real estate market

0:22.5

has changed. If you want to repeat his journey, keep watching to find out how.

0:31.5

Hey, everyone, I'm Dave Meyer, head of real estate investing in bigger pockets. And on this show,

0:36.2

we teach you how to achieve

0:37.6

financial freedom through real estate. Our guest on the show today is investor Dustin Cardenas

0:42.6

from Western Illinois. Dustin didn't start in real estate with any sort of built-in advantages.

0:48.9

He calls himself an everyman and has worked a series of very regular jobs, including bug exterminator and car salesmen.

0:56.5

But Dustin also saw an opportunity right in his backyard, low-priced homes that could be worth much

1:02.7

more if someone just took the time to fix them up and maximize their value. So he thought,

1:07.5

why not me and bought his first property for only 25 grand?

1:11.2

That was seven years ago.

1:12.4

And today, Dustin has a cash flowing portfolio that's allowed him to cut back his hours at work and dream of a retirement that otherwise might not be possible.

1:21.7

Let's bring on Dustin and hear about this amazing investor journey.

1:25.3

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

1:28.6

Thanks for having me. Huge fan of the show. Oh, that's great to hear. We love to hear that.

1:32.8

What was your background? Like, how long ago did you get into real estate? And what had you been

1:37.3

doing prior to that? It's funny you asked that because I just had to think about the age that I

1:41.7

started investing in real estate. And I actually wrote it down. So I was actually 35 the age that I started investing in real estate and I actually wrote it down.

1:45.2

So I was actually 35 years old when I started investing in real estate and I'm currently 42.

...

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