Why This Expert Investor Owns Only ONE Rental Property

Episode #1,024

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Mike Baum owns just one rental property, but this one property alone has changed his life. It’s allowed him to become such an investing expert that he’s constantly being asked for his opinion on the BiggerPockets forums, and he provides some of the most well-thought-out investing advice on the internet. So why does he have just one rental property, and why doesn’t he grow using his expertise? The answer isn’t that obvious.

You wouldn’t know it, but Mike is permanently disabled. After overworking so hard that he ended up losing his vision, he was placed on disability for the rest of his working career. This high achiever was forced to slow down and find something else that could replace his day job. Shortly after his diagnosis, he found BiggerPockets and turned a family vacation home into a short-term rental.

Now, he’s got systems and processes that help him self-manage with very few headaches, and he will probably keep this property as his one and only rental for life. Why didn’t he “FOMO” in when everyone was gobbling up real estate in 2020? Why didn’t he grow his portfolio to become the next tycoon? Mike has some clear answers for why he did what he did, and after listening to him, you might change what you want, too.

00:00 Intro
02:34 Losing Sight After Overworking
05:24 Empty Lake House?
8:52 Managing a Vacation Rental
12:20 Know This BEFORE You Buy
17:17 Just ONE Property
20:56 No-FOMO Investing
26:21 A “Very Interesting” 2025

[bmcCapital]

We need more of this content…feels practical to interview the real investors on the ground

[justlikekingsolomon]

I am 22 years old, lost my dad about half a year ago and I am going to receive some money soon. Would it be smart to grow my money in stocks for a few years while I am in college and then invest in rental properties afterwards, or should I go for real estate investing first?

[brunomiquelussi]

Thanks for the update and keep doing what you do. My journey in the current market has taught me a lot of lessons, at the top of that list is that it never pays to live above one's means. I have managed to grow a nest egg of around $600k to a decent 7 figures in the space of a few months. Sad to say but a lot of us have poor money management skills. My 2 cents -get an advisor to keep you accountable and aid you make better decisions, Aria Cookings has been helping me a lot, all through my journey. I find it better to pay a little bit more for peace of mind than worry about money or market trends and still get >burned.

[scottytullis]

It’s easy buy a few good rentals and buy bitcoin that’s my strategy and I’m retired at 29

[mugentuner]

Mike was real relatable and realistic in his approach. Good to see a normal on the ground that doesn't own 100+ properties that most people cant relate to. If it works in their favor to get another short term rental, I think that would be golden

[PeggyCrane-lj]

Hit 250k today. Appreciate you for all the knowledge and nuggets you had thrown my way over the last months. Started with 24k in July 2024…

[HighCountryRambler]

I'm kind of a duplicate of this guy, even retired from a software development company. The home on acreage in the pine trees in Colorado I built in 1990 was paid off almost 2 decades ago. I looked at the numbers of real estate investors who net less than I do with a dozen leveraged rental homes. Minus the headache of managing multiple properties. With 100% passive income, a decent retirement savings, pension and SS makes for a comfortable retirement, minus all the BS that comes with a large number of properties. Great video BTW.

[clohanmom]

Pay the whole balance off by the closing date, NOT the due date.... every single month!!!!

[Maxrotor]

Instead of purchasing many properties with little equity, I purchased 4 LTR and 1 STR and paid off the mortgages. These will fund the bulk of my retirement.

[biancatud]

Relatable, real, great advice! Really enjoyed this episode.

[knucklebuster]

Where’s the link for the lake house, sounds like an awesome place to vacation! Great tips for us older folks too

[JeffBuffalari]

Hit 250k today. Appreciate you for all the knowledge and nuggets you had thrown my way over the last months. Started with 24k in July 2024…

[professionalaesthetics]

I missed the part where he rationalizes why one rental is all you need. Did I miss it or was the title more clickbait?

[alexNGMI]

"why buy more if youre doing so well with your first one?" lol right... you only scale when things are going poorly...

[danielgaling]

In these uncertain times, it's more important than ever to have a solid understanding of how to manage your finances, invest wisely and navigate economic downturns. But my primary concern is how to grow my reserve of $240k which has been sitting duck since forever with zero to no gains, sure I'm all in on the long term game, but with my savings are lying waste to inflation and my portfolio losing gains everyday, I need a remedy.

[HaveMindWillThink]

watch out for car tels to book them and use them. hes smart turning off autobook

[scottjohnson]

I have 19 units, and I am always sort of looking for another one, but then I tell myself, 19 is probably enough LOL.

[SaraBenjamin-iu]

Recently bought some recommended stocks and now they are just penny stocks. There seems to be more negative portfolios in 2024 with the markets tumbling, soaring inflation, and banks going out of business. My concern is how can the rapid interest-rate hike be of favor to a value investor, or is it better avoiding stocks for a while?

[pasha_houston]

Honest question - is "we had a few properties" and "we were middle middle class" sound right to y'all? I think I'm poor as shit than🫣😅