Making $6,000/Month Cash Flow from 4 Rental Properties in Just 8 Months

People say it’s just too hard to find real estate deals in 2026, but today’s guest is proving them all wrong. He’s already bought four rental properties that make over $6,000 in monthly cash flow, and he’s been investing in real estate for just eight months. Joe Crocker is eager to trade his 70-hour workweek for financial freedom, and he’s on track to replace his W-2 income with rental cash flow in the next two years. He’s not finding these properties by building lists, cold calling, or sending mailers. These are regular deals right off the MLS. He buys one, adds some value, pulls his money out, and buys the next one. It’s a simple investing strategy that anyone can use, yet most people don’t. Meanwhile, Joe has already completed multiple deals this year and is well on his way to building a cash-flowing rental portfolio that gives him the money, time, and freedom he’s always wanted. Follow his model, and there’s no reason why you can’t, too! In This Episode We Cover The exact strategy Joe’s using to replace his income with rental cash flow Scaling to four rental properties in just eight months while working his W-2 job The simple property tax strategy that can instantly boost your cash flow How to find overlooked, undervalued real estate deals in 2026 (on the MLS!) Why you should go into every real estate deal with at least two exit strategies And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠h⁠⁠t⁠t⁠ps://www⁠.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1318⁠. 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

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Henry Washington?

  Today's guest owns four rental properties that generate over $6,000 in monthly cash flow. And get this, he's been investing in real estate for only eight months. People keep saying it's just too hard to find real estate deals in 2026, but Joe Crocker is clearly proving them wrong. He's not finding these properties by building lists or cold calling or even sending mailers. These are regular deals right off the MLS, deals that you or I or anyone else can find. He buys a property, adds some value, pulls his money out and buys the next one. That's it. Nothing complicated, nothing flashy, just a simple strategy that works.

• 0:43Henry Washington?

  Plenty of people are sitting on the sidelines convinced they can't get into the game. Meanwhile, Joe has already completed multiple deals this year and he's about to close on his best one yet. He's even on track to quit his W2 in the next two years, trading a grueling 70-hour work week for the thing most investors are chasing, a cash flowing rental portfolio that gives you more money, time and freedom.

• 1:13Henry Washington?

  Hey everyone, I am Henry Washington here, co-host of the BiggerPockets Podcast. And today we're bringing you an investor story with Joe Crocker from Houston, Texas, who just started investing, but is already well on his way to replacing his income with real estate. Let's bring him on. Mr. Joe Crocker, welcome to the show.

• 1:30Speaker 01

  Hey, thank you.

• 1:31Henry Washington?

  Well, Mr. Joe, why don't we start off and tell us a little bit about your background and what got you into real estate in the first place?

• 1:38Speaker 01

  Sure. So my background is long, I'm not a young man, so, but I'll give you the highlights. I have a W2 job that keeps me on the road a lot. Due to that, I had to relocate recently, end of last year. Came down to the Houston, Texas area and started kind of researching real estate. I started studying the BRRRR method particularly was kind of what I honed in on. And I work with my mom and my wife both helped me out because I'm on the road a lot. And so mom came down, we went and looked at some properties, said, hey, let's do it. And so we closed our first transaction in December of last year.

• 2:14Henry Washington?

  Why don't you tell us what traveling a lot means to you? Because I think it's important to your story.

• 2:21Speaker 01

  Okay. Yeah, it is. So traveling a lot for me, it means I'm on the road about 300 nights a year.

• 2:26Henry Washington?

  That's wild.

• 2:28Speaker 01

  And I work six 12-hour days.

• 2:31Henry Washington?

  You work six 12s and you travel 300 days a year?

• 2:35Speaker 01

  Correct. Yeah.

• 2:36Henry Washington?

  There's a lot of people that are listening that want to get into real estate and they think they don't have the time to fit this into their schedule.

• 2:44Speaker 01

  Well, my mom helps me a lot, so you need, you need a good mother.

• 2:47Henry Washington?

  Yeah, yes, yes. Everybody does it with some sort of help. That is very true.

• 2:51Speaker 01

  For sure.

• 2:51Henry Washington?

  So you said you, you moved to Houston and you started researching real estate, but why? What, what made you look into real estate at all? Why was that even on your mind?

• 3:00Speaker 01

  So it's, it's been on my mind. Prior to being in my current career, I worked in commercial construction. So I've been around real estate a lot throughout my life and have done well on personal properties. And so part of it also is with that lifestyle I just described, I'm getting older. I don't want to do that forever. So I kind of a backup plan, I guess, you would say is trying to, trying to plan my exit. And so I had to come here for work and I saw some opportunities and decided to jump in with both feet, so to speak.

• 3:30Henry Washington?

  Did you have a goal getting started or did you just want to jump in?

• 3:33Speaker 01

  Well, yes, to both of those things. I would look on Zillow and for about two months, probably, I would go every night and I would just go drive properties that I saw and just check out the area and see what I liked. And just kind of get familiar. And then I think it got to a point where we just went, hey, you know what? You got to pull the trigger. And so we made offers on several properties and ended up with actually buying two at the same time. And so, yeah, so we definitely jumped in with both feet.

• 4:01Henry Washington?

  It's one thing to say making offers, but it's another thing to like be making the right offers. So like you have to know how to analyze the deals and what makes a good deal in the first place. So like, was all that like new to you or were you studying and analyzing prior to just making offers?

• 4:17Speaker 01

  Definitely studying and analyzing prior to making offers. I spent a couple of months probably of actually driving every day and looking at things. You know, I listened to your podcast and some other things, so it was familiar to me. But I really got serious about it. I would say I spent about two months of almost daily looking at properties, doing my own analysis, watching them, you know, the MLS properties, but you could see them, the ones I think are good deals. They all sell right away. Then that makes you go, okay, maybe that was a decent one. And so I spent about two months, I would say, before making offers.

• 4:50Henry Washington?

  Well, why don't you tell us about that first one? How did you find it and what was the goal of it?

• 4:56Speaker 01

  The first one was on the MLS. It was a listing that had been up for a long time. One observation I made is that sometimes when things are listed for a long time, nobody looks at them anymore. The price goes down and the seller gets super motivated. So this was, I think, kind of one of those situations. And what it was, was an estate sale where the guy was mid-flip and passed away. So what was attractive to me about it is number one, it was two homes. It was a house and an ADU on the same property. So my goal was to hold it as a rental. So what attracted me to it is it was pretty easy. You know, the cabinets were in, but there was no countertops, needed some trim work.

• 5:38Speaker 01

  The bathrooms were tiled, but not grouted. As it turned out, I had to totally rip that all out. But anyhow, it was a fairly light one. And so that was my thought on it was a, for the first one, I don't want to go huge. I want to try and, and go as easy as I can. But anyways, we bought it for $134,000.

• 5:58Henry Washington?

  $134,000, when did you buy this property?

• 6:02Speaker 01

  End of December of 25.

• 6:04Henry Washington?

  So this isn't some five-year-old deal. You paid $130,000 for a house in Houston, Texas?

• 6:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, and a guest house.

• 6:15Henry Washington?

  And a guest house. And you found it on the MLS?

• 6:19Speaker 01

  Correct.

• 6:19Henry Washington?

  There's probably tons of people in Houston right now talking about, I can't find a deal. There's no deals to be found. There's too many investors here. You can't do anything here. So it can be done is what you're telling me.

• 6:31Speaker 01

  It definitely can be done. So we've done three this year. I bought two of them were MLS deals. And I have one that we're closing next week. It's also an MLS deal. So they're there.

• 6:40Henry Washington?

  So tell us the rest of the numbers. You paid $134,000. How much work did it need, if any?

• 6:45Speaker 01

  Total budget was about $44,000 and I actually came in a little bit under that.

• 6:49Henry Washington?

  Okay.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  I think we spent about 40.

• 6:52Henry Washington?

  So you're all in at 175 and I'm assuming this was a rental because you said you honed in on the BRRRR strategy. So were you able to refinance this one already?

• 7:02Speaker 01

  We did. So we refinanced it right at 90 days. I did the refi. It's $161,200 is what, what our new loan was. So that was a successful BRRRR. It's rented for $2350 between the two units.

• 7:16Henry Washington?

  Not a perfect BRRRR, but that's okay. I don't think you need to pull off a perfect BRRRR. It looks like you pulled out about $13,000 and you were able to rent this for $2,300 on a loan of $161,000. That sounds like a pretty decent cash flowing deal that you found on the MLS basically in 2026. So I don't want to hear anybody saying you can't do this or you can't do it in cities that are very investor heavy. Houston's one of the most investor heavy markets in the country. And you walked in the door, found something sitting on the MLS. I love everything about this. I love how you found it. I love how you took it down. I love that you did everything people say you can't do right now in 2026, all in one deal. Perfect.

• 7:57Henry Washington?

  But you did say, prior to telling us about this first one, that you bought two at the same time. So I'm very curious what the second deal looked like, but we'll dive into that right after the break. Here's a strategy that most W2 employees have never heard of. Normally, if you want to write off a rental property against your regular income, you need real estate professional status. That means tracking hundreds of hours a year. Rent to Retirement just launched a program that skips all of that. It's called the STR loophole tenant placement program. Here's how it works. You buy one of Rent to Retirement's Class A new construction investment properties. You set up an Airbnb listing and self-manage it for the remainder of the year.

• 8:37Henry Washington?

  Rent to Retirement then rents the home as a short-term rental to establish it as an STR for the year. No furnishing required, making this the easy button to save five or six figures in taxes this year. And because you're the sole manager, there's no hourly minimum to meet. That lets you use a cost segregation study to accelerate the depreciation and potentially write off over $100,000 against your income, even on your first rental. Add in cash back up to 13% of the home price, which exceeds $60,000 on some properties. With this massive cash back incentives, investors are seeing total returns up to 126%. New construction, A-class properties and inventory is limited.

• 9:20Henry Washington?

  Learn more at biggerpockets.com/retirement or text REI to 33777. Again, text REI to 33777.

• 9:31Dave Meyer?

  Most investors only think about insurance when something goes wrong. A tenant injury, storm damage, loss of rent. Then suddenly the cheapest policy doesn't feel like the best one anymore. That's why a lot of BiggerPockets investors use steadily for landlord insurance, designed specifically for rental properties. Whether you own one property or a growing portfolio, they make it simple to get covered properly. And BiggerPockets Pro members get an extra 5% off their landlord insurance premiums. Visit biggerpockets.com/landlordinsurance to get a quote today.

• 10:05Henry Washington?

  Quick word about a new pro perk you'll want to know about. Aven. If you're a homeowner, there's a good chance you're sitting on equity that you're not using. The problem is tapping into that usually means a cash out refi, a traditional second mortgage or weeks of paperwork just to get approved. Aven built something different. It's a credit card, but it's backed by your home equity. So you get a lot of the rate benefits of a HELOC with the flexibility of a card you can use anywhere. Rates are typically well below a standard credit card. Approval is fast and mostly online and you can use it for anything. A renovation, paying down high interest debt, or just have more breathing room in your budget. And if you're a BiggerPockets Pro member, there's an extra reason to check it out.

• 10:44Henry Washington?

  Get approved for the Aven card and you'll get a $400 statement credit after spending $400 on your Aven card. Enough to cover your entire annual pro membership. Head over to aven.com/biggerpockets to see if you qualify. Aven Financial, MLS number 2042345. Cards issued per 2020 license from Visa USA, Inc. By Coastal Community Bank, MLS number 462289. Member FDIC. Equal housing lender. Subject to approval. Terms apply. Visit aven.com for details.

• 11:10Speaker 03

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• 11:41Henry Washington?

  All right, we are back on the BiggerPockets Podcast. I am here with investor Joe Crocker, who pulled off a pretty decent bird deal in Houston, Texas for his very first deal. Get this, in 2026 and he found it on the MLS. But you also said you bought two at the same time. So I'm very curious what the second deal in this two deal package looked like.

• 12:06Speaker 01

  All right, well, get ready for this one. So I said I bought two, but they both had two separate units.

• 12:12Henry Washington?

  The second one had an ADU too?

• 12:14Speaker 01

  It had two full homes. Yeah. So I bid awful lot. Let's put it that way. But that one was an MLS deal too. And I'll tell you that the way that I found that one, and I'll go through the numbers with you, but that one was, was one that was tenant occupied. So it was like impossible to see. There was no sign in front. It showed terribly. I couldn't even hardly get a hold of the Realtor. And then the square footage was wrong on the MLS. And the big thing on that one is the tax assessment. I paid $295 for it and it was tax assessed at 780. So the taxes in Texas are huge. So the taxes were 13,000 a year. Yeah, it was crazy. So especially for an investor that's buying rental properties,

• 12:59Speaker 01

  that kills your cash flow.

• 13:00Henry Washington?

  See, everybody's like, come to Texas, there's no state tax, but the property tax is crazy.

• 13:07Speaker 01

  But here's the opportunity there. I appealed that since then, I appealed those taxes and I got them lowered to 5,000.

• 13:14Henry Washington?

  Whoa.

• 13:15Speaker 01

  Yeah. That was a big cash flow pickup.

• 13:18Henry Washington?

  Before we get there, I gotta know the numbers on this deal. So tell me about it.

• 13:22Speaker 01

  There's two homes. So the front home is about 1,500 square feet. It's a three bedroom, two bath. And then the rear home at the time was a two bedroom, one bath. The front home was vacant. The rear home was occupied and I paid 295 for the whole package. And the rear house at the time was occupied. He was paying 1,200 a month for the rear house and the front house had been rented for 2,000 for quite a while. And so I was like, kind of looking like 1% ish and it seemed to work. So we ended up converting the garage in the rear house. So that's now a three bedroom.

• 14:00Henry Washington?

  Nice.

• 14:01Speaker 01

  And then we redid the front house completely. It's two blocks from the beach. So we're going to end up doing it as an Airbnb and doing the short-term rental.

• 14:10Henry Washington?

  You said two blocks from the beach. So I assume this is Galveston.

• 14:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, down in Galveston. Yep.

• 14:13Henry Washington?

  Man, that sounds like a screaming deal. What kind of condition were these properties in? I mean, people were living in one of them. So I assumed that it was okay condition.

• 14:23Speaker 01

  Well, so it was decent condition. I mean, we ended up spending partly because we're doing a short-term rental. We ended up spending about a hundred fixing it up. We ended up just doing a DSCR loan out of the gate. We just put 20% down and got no prepay and and just paid cash for all the improvements. So we're in it right now, probably about 395, rough number, and it should be worth somewhere between six and seven.

• 14:48Henry Washington?

  Whoa. So you got somewhere between 100 and 200,000 of equity on a deal you found on the MLS in 2026. That's incredible, man. Congratulations. Congratulations. And so one of them's a short-term rental. You're keeping the back unit as a long-term rental?

• 15:04Speaker 01

  So I think our plan right now is to short-term rent both of them.

• 15:07Henry Washington?

  Okay.

• 15:08Speaker 01

  I'll tell you, my analysis, you asked about that, is I wanted to have multiple exits. So number one, could I sell it if things didn't go my way? Can I sell it? Yeah. Two is can I long-term rent it? Because the short-term, I mean, you said it, we're down there in Gauzin, 4,500 short-term rental permits. It's pretty competitive. So my plan was I'll try to short-term rent it. If that doesn't work, then I'll just put in long-term tenants and if that doesn't work, I'll sell it.

• 15:33Henry Washington?

  That is a huge tip for anybody that's listening, especially if you're going to do short-term rentals. I don't mind short-term rentals. I don't, I have, I think, four short-term rentals, but every single one of my short-term rentals, with the exception of one that I sold recently, could be a long-term rental. And the one that could not be a long-term rental, I had so much equity in it, I could sell it. Because short-term rentals aren't like it was before, where you could throw furniture and anything, stick it on the market, somebody was going to rent it, it was going to make money. It's not like that now. Most of the people who don't know how to operate short-term rentals have exited the market or are actively exiting the market. So who does that leave in the short-term rental

• 16:14Henry Washington?

  space? Professional operators, people who are very good at this, people who know exactly what their customers need, exactly where their customers want to be, provide them the exact experience their customers are looking for. So if you're going to compete with that, you have to be good too. And if you're new, you may not be able to be as good, but you may not find that out until you get to start operating and it doesn't produce the results that you're looking for. And so if it doesn't produce the results that you're looking for, what do you do? Well, if you bought it and the only exit strategy you have is to keep it as a short-term rental, well, you're in a world of hurt. If you can't sell it and make money or break even, and if you can't long-term rent it and make money

• 16:57Henry Washington?

  or break even, then you're going to lose money. It's just a matter of when and how much. And so I always say, buy with two exit strategies for every deal. If you've got two exits for every deal, you're better protected. It doesn't guarantee you that you won't lose money, but it makes it harder. And so you kind of already mentioned that you, you've already bought a third deal that you are short-term renting. So did you go specifically looking for one that you would do as a short-term rental now that you had found the other two?

• 17:27Speaker 01

  I'll tell you what happened. I was on Facebook one day in the investor group or whatever, and I see somebody had posted a wholesaler that had posted a condo for sale at this place. So I was in Michigan at the time. So I called my mom. I go, hey, can you go check out this condo? And so she goes over there, she goes, yeah, it's good. So the guy's on the phone with me. He was asking, he started at 99,000 and it needed some work. So I said, hey, I'd be a buyer, but not at that number. I can't make it work. There's no way. Cause I treat it like a flip, right? So I'm kind of old school, 70% minus repairs is the most that I'm gonna.

• 18:03Henry Washington?

  Dude, me too. I still do that. I still analyze everything as a flip, even if I'm going to keep it as a rental, because I buy it cheaper that way.

• 18:09Speaker 01

  Maybe I learned that from you. I don't know, but that's definitely what I do. So as time ticks, he's going, well, what will you do? So I paid 73,000 for it.

• 18:19Henry Washington?

  Did you pay cash or did you get a loan?

• 18:20Speaker 01

  I just paid cash for it. Here you go. Here's 73,000. And that was beginning of June, end of May. So since then, I've already rehabbed the whole place, furnished it. It's been rented for 22 days in the month of July. We have on the books.

• 18:35Henry Washington?

  Are you gonna refi out of this thing?

• 18:37Speaker 01

  I already did. So we already got all our money back out of that one. And it appraised at 143.

• 18:44Henry Washington?

  Nice. That was higher than you expected.

• 18:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was good. So I ended up being in it all in, including furniture and everything, about 90 ish. And it appraised at 143. So we ended up refinancing it at 60%. So we got most of our cap back. I think we had 83,000 was our loan. So that's good. And the kicker on a condo is the dues are 611 a month. And so you combine that with a couple hundred bucks in taxes and then your electricity, because you're paying for that, everything else is included, but you pay for electric. And then your debt service, the payment, the payment, you know, principal and interest is about 600. So it's, seems like it's going to be pretty good, but time will tell.

• 19:22Henry Washington?

  Color me impressed, man. Three pretty amazing deals in 2026, no less, in Houston, Texas, no less. And now you said, I heard you earlier, you said you had one under contract right now. So I'm assuming that's your fourth deal. So come on, give it to me. Tell me about this one.

• 19:38Speaker 01

  So the fourth deal, I haven't done the whole thing yet, but we're going to close in the next couple of days. So again, two houses, because that seems to be my thing. So it's got a five-bedroom house in the front and then a two-unit in the back. And it's section eight rented. So two of the three units are occupied. So I got under contract at 355. The front unit currently brings in 2,800 a month. And then the rear units are 1,400 a piece.

• 20:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, it gets better though.

• 20:08Henry Washington?

  So you're bringing in twenty eight hundred in the front, twenty eight hundred in the back.

• 20:13Speaker 01

  Fifty six hundred.

• 20:14Henry Washington?

  Fifty six hundred dollars gross rents and you paid three fifty.

• 20:19Speaker 01

  Fifty, three fifty five.

• 20:20Henry Washington?

  My brain can't even hold on to the numbers.

• 20:22Speaker 01

  So my plan with that one, we pay three fifty five, we got about seventy five in our construction budget. Uh, just bring everything up to, um, you know, nicer finishes. We're going to put in court, even though it's section eight. It's going to be a nice place for people to live. And then actually the rents, when we do that, we can increase the rents, the section eight. Limits are higher, so we can, we'll be able to go up to thirty three hundred on the front unit. And then the rear units will go, one of them will be seventeen thirty and the other one will be twenty three, twenty eight. So we should be at about seventy three hundred a month cash flow.

• 20:56Henry Washington?

  So for the people listening, first and foremost, if you have a stigma in your head about section eight, get it out of your head. There are good tenants and bad tenants in every price class. I don't care if it's top tier, three thousand dollars a month rent. Or if it's, you know, bottom of the barrel, under a thousand dollars a month rent. There are good tenants and bad tenants everywhere. Our job as investors is to be great at tenant selection regardless of the class of a unit that we have. And so section eight can be very cash flow positive. And not only is it very cash flow positive in some markets, but obviously you get the, the guaranteed rents or a good chunk of that rent is guaranteed through the government.

• 21:36Henry Washington?

  So in larger cities, places like Houston, typically section eight will pay higher than market value rents. In other words, you can get more rent out of a section eight rented house than you could if you took that house off section eight and just rented it traditionally. And the amount of rent the government is willing to pay per house goes up based on the number of bedrooms. So if you can add bedrooms, you get more rent. So it sounds like the one you're getting thirty three hundred on, that's probably the, was it a five bedroom?

• 22:07Speaker 01

  Five bedroom. Yeah.

• 22:08Henry Washington?

  That's fantastic. So if you're in a larger city and you've already got rentals, you may want to call down to the housing authority and see what they pay for rents. And see if it's higher than what you're currently getting, man. I love that. So thirty three hundred, seventeen thirty, twenty three, twenty eight. And what's your debt service on that? Like, what are you paying for mortgage taxes and insurance?

• 22:32Speaker 01

  So I haven't purchased it yet, so I couldn't even tell you exactly what the payment will be, but probably about four grand a month, I'm gonna guess.

• 22:39Henry Washington?

  I mean, that's probably about right, somewhere between thirty eight, forty two. But you're bringing in after you fix it up, seventy three. Wow. That's cash flow, folks. That is cash flow. Was this an MLS deal too?

• 22:53Speaker 01

  It was.

• 22:54Henry Washington?

  Geez, man. Geez, man, oh, man. I don't even gotta do the math to know that that's a screaming deal. Man, that's awesome. And you've done it by, you know, using some of your own cash, but pulling it back out. I mean, these are just traditional things that people talk about. But I love hearing how people take these, these methods that, uh, we talk about and they implement them in their business, man. Fantastic deal. Why don't you give us a summary? How many deals and or units do you have? And what's that putting in your pocket every month?

• 23:25Speaker 01

  So we have, uh, currently five and about to be eight, once we get this next one closed. And I think that should cash flow us at about six thousand a month net after all expenses.

• 23:35Henry Washington?

  I'll take that all day long, my man. That's incredible. And like I said, you were using some of your money, but it looks like you've been able to pull the majority of your cash back out.

• 23:44Speaker 01

  I would say by the time we, we finish up this round, I'm gonna call it, we, uh, we should have all of our cash back and probably then some.

• 23:52Henry Washington?

  So all your cash back in your pocket, plus you're getting six thousand dollars a month in net cash flow. And it sounds like we're just getting started. All right, Joe, I do have a couple of questions for some of the newer investors who are listening, who maybe want to be where you are twelve months from now. I'm sure you've got some lessons that you can share with them and we'll dive into those right after the break.

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• 29:07Henry Washington?

  All right, we are back on the BiggerPockets Podcast. I'm talking with investor Joe Crocker, who has been killing it over the past 12 months, doing multiple real estate deals that frankly, anyone can do. And so I would like for you to share with our audience, maybe some lessons that you've learned over the past 12 months, because you've done a lot. It's not just that you bought these eight units, it's that you've renovated them, and you have refinanced them, and you are operating them. And so what was maybe something that was a lesson on a deal that you weren't expecting, or maybe something that did not go to plan?

• 29:44Speaker 01

  So lots of things didn't go to plan. So I don't want to give the impression that this is easy. It's definitely not. The hardest challenge for me has been the financing piece, because I'm ready to move back really quick. And I haven't had the right lending relationship, is how I'm going to say that. And I've tried a few different ones. So I'm still trying to work that out. That's probably the biggest piece, I would say. And then the other thing is, sooner or later, you just have to do it. And that's going to be your, your lesson, you know. So for me, like the first one, it was only $135,000 purchase. So I figured, what's the worst thing that's going to happen? It's not going to be worth zero, you know. So my risk is fairly limited. And it worked out good. But I think just, you know, my, my best piece of advice would be, if you're ready, just

• 30:28Speaker 01

  do it. You know, you got to do one. And it may not go perfect, but that's how you're going to learn.

• 30:34Henry Washington?

  If you're starting with a single family home, I mean, as long as you've done enough analysis to at least have a general understanding of what kind of discount you need to be buying properties at, like, just buy it. Real estate, very rarely is it ever going to go to zero. You're right. So your risk isn't that you're going to lose all your money. Your risk is that you might lose some money, right? You might have to deal with some headaches, but you're going to learn something in exchange for that. And if a single family home not going well is going to put you in the poorhouse, then I'd say you're probably not financially ready to invest yet. You need to save up some more cash before you jump in. That's why it's important that you take your bumps and bruises on a deal where your risk is limited. So just be

• 31:17Henry Washington?

  careful, protect yourself. I love that. Any other lessons or things that you wish you would have done different?

• 31:23Speaker 01

  I think the short term rental, one thing I will say there, that looks really good at first glance. But there's a lot to it. You hit it right on the head. You can't just give people a bed. It's nowadays, you got to have, you know, like this house, we end up putting in a hot tub, and a fire pit, and all this kind of stuff. And we do a little, you'll appreciate this, we do little gift baskets where we like, you know, give them like customized gear and a Bluetooth speaker, and try and make it really inexperienced. But the Airbnb side, the other thing I didn't fully anticipate is how much it costs to furnish a complete house. And, and, you know, people would think it's not very much. And I'm like, you know, when you do three or four bedrooms, and I'm talking, you got to do everything, three sets of bedding, the bed, the mattress,

• 32:06Speaker 01

  the TVs, like all that stuff. You can spend 30 grand in the, in the blink of an eye, fresh in a house, especially if you want it to be nice. So that was one thing I kind of under anticipated a little bit.

• 32:17Henry Washington?

  All right, before we get out of here, I wanted to revisit something. You said that your second deal, which was the two SDRs on one lot, had $13,000 in annual taxes, and you were able to get that reduced to $5,000. How did you do that?

• 32:34Speaker 01

  So I anticipated that. That was one of the things, just to give you a flavor of MLS, I called the Realtor and I go, geez, the taxes are 13,000, is that right? And she goes, yeah, that's what it says. That must be what it is.

• 32:46Henry Washington?

  Thanks, lady.

• 32:47Speaker 01

  Instead of saying like, yeah, hey, but you could appeal that and get it way knocked down. So to me, I went, that doesn't make sense. I wonder if I get that knocked down. So I did some research, and you can do it here. It's once a year, and you got a pretty tight window. So I anticipated that as part of my buy, was that I'm going to get them knocked down. So what surprised me, Henry, is how easy it was.

• 33:08Henry Washington?

  It's so easy. People do not realize this. It's so easy.

• 33:12Speaker 01

  Listen, here's how easy it is for everybody listening, at least where I am. I filled out the form, and then I went down to the place in person. So I sit down in the lobby for 10 minutes, and the girl goes, yeah, come on back. And she goes, tell me what's going on. And I go, well, hey, I just bought this property for 295, and it's taxes at 780. And that seems bananas. And she goes, oh, okay. How's your day? Oh, good. He's typing away. And then she goes, okay, are you good if we just drop it to 295? And I go, yeah, I guess. And she goes, yeah, your taxes will be like 5,000. I go, okay. So that's how easy it was. So it's shocking. And so I don't know why you wouldn't do that. I'm like, lesson to myself every time I'm going to go down there.

• 33:52Henry Washington?

  Every year, folks, find out what your window is. In some cities, it's a longer window. In some cities, you can do it whenever you want. You just need to figure out when, when you can do this. But yeah, you can challenge your property taxes. So a lot of times, what happens with investors, guys, is you buy something, and then you renovate it, and then you refi it. And then, you know, maybe a year down the road, six months, depending on whenever they do their inspections and assessments, you'll get a letter in the mail that says, hey, your property taxes are now, why? And what most people do is they just say, man, that sucks. Okay, I guess there goes my cash flow. But you don't have to do that. You can challenge them. Some people, you have to provide

• 34:31Henry Washington?

  comps to show that, hey, this property is similar, and its taxes are lower. And sometimes you just go down there and say, hey, I don't think this is fair. And then they just look on their computer and go, okay, how's this sound? And then your taxes are lower. But it's very easy process. There are companies that will do this for you, but you don't need to do that. You can literally negotiate these things yourself. And most of the time, they will reduce your tax bill. Not always, but most of the time, you can get a reduction, which is going to save you money and put more cash flow in your pocket. This is something everybody should be doing every year, but most people don't do it at all.

• 35:10Speaker 01

  I agree.

• 35:11Henry Washington?

  All right, Joe, thank you so much for coming on the BiggerPockets Podcast. I love that you've had so much success, really in a, in a seemingly, short period of time. I'm curious, though, have you had more, or less, or as much success as you thought you would in your first year of real estate investing?

• 35:30Speaker 01

  You know, I've had a lot of road bumps along the way, getting all these projects done. But at the end of the day, I think it's gone really good. So I think that probably now, if you just, if I look at it as going, here's the portfolio, and here's what's in there, I go, geez, yeah, we're killing it. That's great.

• 35:46Henry Washington?

  So what's the goals moving forward? Are you going to continue to buy more? Are you going to just focus on paying off what you've got? Where are you headed?

• 35:53Speaker 01

  Oh, no, I'm definitely not going to sit still. So, you know, my first goal is to get to 10. And trying to figure out our lending relationships, that's the one that I think that's the one thing that's holding me back right now, is you only have so much cash. And so working that piece out, that's, you know, over the next year. And I think once I get over 10 projects completed, that door will really open up. So, no, I want to keep grinding. I think 30 is where I need to be, this is in my head, to kind of maybe shift away from my W2 employment and into doing this full time. But if it keeps going like this, yeah, I'll keep rocking it. It's fun.

• 36:28Henry Washington?

  How much longer do you think it's going to take you to get to where you want to be in terms of being able to not travel 300 days a year and work six 12s?

• 36:36Speaker 01

  I think somewhere between one and two years from when I started, I'll be at a point where I will have replaced my income.

• 36:44Henry Washington?

  Hey, that's pretty incredible, especially for starting in literally the last month of 2025, and getting this far now. Congratulations, man.

• 36:54Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 36:55Henry Washington?

  We talked a lot about these amazing deals, and I think it almost gets lost that like, you've done all this while traveling 300 days a year and working six 12s. So if you are listening to this, and you have been hesitating, jumping in to investing in real estate, because you don't think you have enough time, or you don't think you have the resources, or you don't think you can find a deal, I hope you find some inspiration in this story, because none of those things are true. You can absolutely do this. You just got to do it. And I know that sounds cliche, but just talk to Joe. You just heard him for the last hour, telling you he just did it. This is not an easy business. It is challenging, and scary, and uncomfortable, but it's a simple business. Buy something that you can add some value to, add the value,

• 37:39Henry Washington?

  monetize it at its new higher price, rinse and repeat. If you do that, you'll look up in 10 to 15 years and realize you're pretty wealthy. And that's super stinking cool. Thanks for sharing, Joe.

• 37:49Speaker 01

  You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

• 37:51Henry Washington?

  All right, guys. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the BiggerPockets Podcast. And if you, like Joe, have a pretty amazing real estate investment story, and you'd love to come on the podcast and share it with us, then go to biggerpockets.com/guest and fill out the form. Maybe we'll get to interview you on the show, and you can share your story with our audience. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We'll see you on the next one. Hey, Bose here. On your next track, listen for the decisions. Distortion on the bass, the vocal right up front. Every choice deliberate. With Bose, you'll hear it all. Your music deserves Bose.

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