Using Fixer-Upper Rentals (BRRRR) to Achieve Financial Independence with Ben Walhood

In This Article

When you hear the acronym “BRRRR,” what comes to mind? Winter? Well, today on the BiggerPockets Podcast, we’re going to talk about BRRRR — and, no, we’re not talking about the temperature! On this powerful episode, we dive deep into one of the most popular and exciting strategies for real estate investors today — the BRRRR strategy (Buy-Rehab-Rent-Refinance-Repeat). We talk with Ben Walhood, a real estate investor from the Chicago suburbs who has found tremendous success buying properties in several states using BRRRR, as well as several other strategies. You’ll learn why it took Ben nearly ten years to “take off” as an investor, as well as the best tips he has for finding success today. Grab a notebook and pencil — because this is one show you’ll want to take some notes!

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This Show Sponsored By

We just wanted to give a shout out to our podcast sponsor on today’s show: B2R Finance

A new commercial lender offering loans specifically for rental investors. B2R Finance could help you unlock equity from existing properties so you can get cash out now.

Learn more by visiting: B2RFinance.com

Fire Round Sponsor

A huge thanks as well to our Fire Round sponsor FreshBooks.
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In This Episode We Cover:

• Tips for switching from the linear path of a sales person to a real estate investor
• What a “no doc loan” is
• How Ben bought his first house in college to house hack
• How he learns each market he gets into
• The story of how he failed horribly on his second deal
• What to do when you get calls from tenants in the middle of the night
• Why every strategy could work
• How he got better with his type of properties over time
• The best deal he’s had
• Why you have to fail to succeed
• Tips on the BRRRR strategy
• How many properties Ben has
• What you should know about CapEx
• Tips for using insurance companies
• How to perform a walkthrough of a typical BRRRR deal
• The downsides to this strategy
• Tips for short-term financing through crowdfunding
• Where is Ben going with his investing
• How we was able to quit his job through investing
• And SO much more!

Links from the Show

• BiggerPockets Calculators (includes BRRR Calculator)
• RealtyShares
• BP Podcast 151: Finding Your “Freedom Number” with Clayton Morris
• BiggerPockets Forums

Books Mentioned in this Show

• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
• The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner
• Investing in Real Estate by Gary Eldred
• Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki
• Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

Tweetable Topics:

• “I just hated the idea of throwing away money on rent every month.” (Tweet This!)
• “Find people that choose to rent and not ones that need to rent.” (Tweet This!)
• “I had to try and fail before I could figure out what success looked like.” (Tweet This!)
• “It’s all about putting in the right people and putting some terms in your lease.” (Tweet This!)

Connect with Ben

• Ben’s BiggerPockets Profile
• Ben’s LinkedIn
• Ben’s Company Profile

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.