From the Community: Real Estate Primer: Paid-for rentals are the key

Published 8:30 am Tuesday, August 5, 2025

I had a very unexpected phone call from a long-lost friend the other day. And even though he and I got our start in real estate investing at about the same time, we took two very different paths.

There’s a video of me, him and my mentor, Bill Cook, standing outside of the rental house that I worked on for free all those years ago. That day was pivotal for me because after working all day for Bill, he and his wife Kim took Ashley and I under their wings and guided us into our investor career. Bill always talks about that day and mentions how I was willing to give in order to receive. And because of that mentality, he was willing to pour into me.

My buddy standing in the video worked for Bill and Kim. At the time, he had just gotten a realtor license but answered a help wanted ad that Bill had put up looking for grunt labor around the farm and on the rentals. My buddy saw the opportunity to get paid and learn at the same time. And he did.

He worked there for about a year, cutting grass, doing farm work and anything else Bill and Kim needed before heading out on his own to start his business.

On the call he told me that he and I had received different educations. You see while he was there all he absorbed was how to flip houses and make money. Now he has done very well with that. He has been living in a big house and just built a 3,000-square-foot 5/3 on a mini-farm. He has made a good life for his family. He told me that he has enjoyed flipping, selling and wholesaling. But now that he is getting older, he’s tired of being in the rat race.

Actually, he called it a hamster wheel. But what he meant was he was tired of getting up, going to work just to pay bills and having to do it all again the next day. He wants to stop working his realtor and investor job and just work on the farm.

Did you catch that I just said “investor job”? Truly, from his words he explained how flipping and wholesaling is work and by him only doing those provides a good income, but he still feels like he is trapped in a hamster wheel. And he was calling to learn about how to get into rentals because he knew that was the education I had received when I was under Bill and Kim’s tutelage.

Him revealing the difference in our education was interesting to me. Because he and I sat in the same rooms, saw the same slides and heard the same words. What I learned was flipping was a job, and paid-for rentals were the key to real estate investing because once they’re paid for, you’ll have all the passive income you’ll ever need. What I heard was that you flip and wholesale to pay bills while you acquire rentals, and then flip and wholesale to get them paid off. But the end goal was the rentals.

I think many people misunderstand that. They get caught up in the hype around making the big bucks that can accompany selling property and forget the slow draw that comes from rentals. Because let’s face it, making a $10,000 assignment fee or a $30,000 on a flip sounds way more appealing than $200 a month in cashflow. But once those rentals are paid for, the cashflow goes up to something like $1,200 a month after all expenses. And with only 10 of those, you can be sitting on your mini-farm, piddling and be making close to $150,000 a year passively.

That’s a good life by most people’s standards. Now you may need more than 10 because your cash flow may be greater than that. But what I want you to hear is don’t get caught up in the hamster wheel flipping and wholesaling. Make a plan and acquire some good rentals to take care of you so you can step out of that wheel when you are ready.

Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at (678) 986-6813.

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