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Episode #1135 Baselane: Automate your real estate finances with banking and AI-powered bookkeeping. Claim your $100 bonus! https://www.baselane.com/lp/bigger-pockets/?utm_source=bigger_pockets&utm_campaign=bigger_pockets&utm_medium=YT-M Analyze 7 Deals for a Chance to Win a BPCon2025 Ticket, a BiggerPockets Pro Membership, and More! https://www.biggerpockets.com/7deals?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Episode Show Notes: https://lnk.to/biggerpocketsYT Join BiggerPockets for FREE 👇 https://www.biggerpockets.com/signup?utm_source=owned_media Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show! https://www.BiggerPockets.com/Podcastfeedback Grab the Book on “The House Hacking Strategy”: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/the-house-hacking-strategy?utm_source=owned_media Sign Up for the BiggerPockets Real Estate Newsletter: https://www.biggerpockets.com/email-subscribe?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area: http://biggerpockets.com/agentmatch House Hacking is the Most Logical Way to Make Money In Real Estate This Year—Here’s Why: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/house-hacking-is-the-best-way-to-make-money-in-real-estate-in-2025?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Connect with Jessica: BiggerPockets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/jessicac147?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Instagram (AC Unit Story!): https://www.instagram.com/jcruel/reel/DB_iTA5uXkV/ Connect with Dave: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/davem27?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Five rental properties are all you need to change your life. This income alone could cover all your bills, allowing your entire paycheck to go toward investing as you're fast-tracked to financial freedom and early retirement. Even if you’ve got a demanding job with long hours and limited free time, investing in real estate is STILL the right move. Today’s guest was able to utilize her (very limited) downtime to build a rental portfolio of six units, all while managing her hectic day job. Now, she’s in a great position to retire early and is even eyeing her dream retirement house as we speak. Jessica Cruel is editor-in-chief at Allure & SELF, but before the big title, she was living in expensive Newark, New Jersey, looking to invest in real estate while making less than six figures a year. After watching her ex-boyfriend successfully do a real estate deal, she thought, “If he can do it, I can do it better.” So, she bought a rental with multiple units but a sizable renovation checklist. It took her two years to turn it around, but now, she’s cashing the checks that will fund her early retirement. Six years later, Jessica has a six-unit portfolio, with enough income to cover her bills and a hunger to build her small, slow-but-steady, financial freedom-enabling real estate portfolio. If she can do it in her pricey area, why can’t you? 0:00 Intro 1:54 Buying a “Revenge Rental” 5:43 Investing with a Demanding Job 7:40 5 Rentals Before 40! 12:16 Sponsor: Baselane! 13:13 1st Deal, 1st Disaster 20:27 3 More Units (BIG Tradeoffs) 29:21 Current Portfolio and Future Plans 32:52 Buy Your Retirement Rental NOW! 35:23 Start Small, Go Slow!