Financial Freedom in 8 Years by Investing for Equity (NOT Cash Flow)

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

What if, within ten years, you could reach financial freedom? Imagine it. You may have a high-stress job where you’re working long hours and making good money but feeling burnout creeping in. You NEED an exit strategy if you’re going to keep up with this lifestyle because before long, you may need an early retirement. That’s precisely how Benjamin Aaker, emergency medicine physician, felt.

Benjamin loves his work, and he’s still working today, but now, he has the option to leave when the burnout gets too much. After becoming an “accidental landlord,” Benjamin quickly saw the benefits of investing in real estate. He bought a few more houses and a multifamily building, then went bigger and bigger. Now, he’s equity-rich with a real estate portfolio that can support his lifestyle if he decides not to work.

Even if you’re not stressed out at your job (yet), Benjamin encourages you to financially prepare to exit your career, if just for peace of mind. He talks about how you can scale smarter, faster, and better with partners, why sometimes you need to get dirty to succeed in real estate, and how to juggle investing with your full-time job.

In This Episode We Cover:

How to scale your real estate portfolio fast and reach financial freedom

The crucial mistake Benjamin made when he bought his first big property

Determining your financial independence timeline and when you want to be able to quit

Appreciation vs. cash flow and the surprising choice Benjamin made to reach financial independence faster

Vetting a real estate partner BEFORE you invest and red flags to look for

Syndication investing for beginners and using other people’s money to buy real estate

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Join BiggerPockets for FREE

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Invest in Turnkey Properties with REI Nation

Grab “The Intention Journal”

Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area

How to Build a Real Estate Portfolio & Quickly Scale Your Investments

Connect with Benjamin

Connect with Dave

(00:00) Intro

(00:48) Got a High-Stress Job?

(02:30) The “Accidental” Landlord

(03:54) Becoming Work-OPTIONAL

(10:22) Equity Over Cash Flow

(14:31) Multifamily and BIG Syndication Mistakes

(23:55) A Really Crappy Problem

(27:30) Finding (and Vetting) Partners

(30:35) WAY Bigger Deals

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1045

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