How to scale your rental portfolio

[Ashwin C.]

I recently purchased my first property (turnkey) using a conventional mortgage. After purchasing it, I realized that saving up for the down payment (25%) every year is going to be a really slow way to grow my portfolio but I see many investors buy multiple properties a year. How do you do it? How do you fund the down payment?
I understand that the BRRR method is one-way to cycle money and fund future projects but what are the other methods that people use?

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Ashwin C.:

Some people make more money through their W-2 job.

Some inherit money from family.

Some create revenue through side-jobs or hustles.

People present real estate investing as soooo easy with nooooo money necessary! It's all BS. I saved up $10,000 to buy my first investment. I saved up $20,000 to buy my second investment. I realized I needed to make more money if I wanted to scale, so I figured out a way to make more money with my business and then invested that extra income into real estate. It took a couple years to buy my first three rentals, then I scaled to 33 rentals in three years because I hustled and saved. I also took every dime earned from my investments and re-invested it. I haven't bought anything since November 2021 and am currently in a season of rest and renovation.

There's nothing wrong with listening to what others are doing and trying to find ways to scale but be realistic. Some of those investors inherited money, others are high earners, and some just got lucky with their timing. The majority of wealthy people get there by making wise decisions over a long period of time.