trying to retire in 10 years fully from real estate

Member since 2025 · 16 posts · 22 votes

I currently make 150K a year after taxes, I have no house, no bills, great credit. I’m going to buy my first 3-4 unit property within the next 3 months, but I was wondering what strategy you’d recommend for me to retire as fast as possible? How many units would I need to retire? Anyone that’s familiar with the Chicago land area and how I can completely replace my job income?

8 Reply

645 views

Most Popular Reply

Paul De Luca

Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

11mo

@Madi Shanahan

First, I recommend house hacking a 3-4 unit property to reduce your housing expense & start building wealth. Once you move out and fully rent it, you should be getting some cash flow. I would use house hacking as just one tool in your overall strategy for building wealth and acquiring more rentals. Between house hacks, you could use other strategies such as BRRRRing or flipping to generate some more cash to put back into rentals.

It's impossible for anyone here on the forums to state how many units you will need to retire. There are several variables that go into answering that question such as your current living expenses and estimated cash flow amount per door.

It might be worth checking out the book "Retire Early With Real Estate" by Chad Carson to think about the right questions to ask yourself and how to get there.

8 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

27 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Paul De Luca
Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11mo
@Madi Shanahan
First, I recommend house hacking a 3-4 unit property to reduce your housing expense & start building wealth. Once you move out and fully rent it, you should be getting some cash flow. I would use house hacking as just one tool in your overall strategy for building wealth and acquiring more rentals. Between house hacks, you could use other strategies such as BRRRRing or flipping to generate some more cash to put back into rentals.
It's impossible for anyone here on the forums to state how many units you will need to retire. There are several variables that go into answering that question such as your current living expenses and estimated cash flow amount per door.
It might be worth checking out the book "Retire Early With Real Estate" by Chad Carson to think about the right questions to ask yourself and how to get there.
8 Reply
- Jess Coulter
  Property Manager · Chicago, IL · Member since 2025 · 13 posts · 9 votes
  11mo
  Quote from @Paul De Luca:
  
  @Madi Shanahan
  First, I recommend house hacking a 3-4 unit property to reduce your housing expense & start building wealth. Once you move out and fully rent it, you should be getting some cash flow. I would use house hacking as just one tool in your overall strategy for building wealth and acquiring more rentals. Between house hacks, you could use other strategies such as BRRRRing or flipping to generate some more cash to put back into rentals.
  It's impossible for anyone here on the forums to state how many units you will need to retire. There are several variables that go into answering that question such as your current living expenses and estimated cash flow amount per door.
  It might be worth checking out the book "Retire Early With Real Estate" by Chad Carson to think about the right questions to ask yourself and how to get there.
  
  I second checking out the Retire Early With Real Estate book! I'm also on the retiring in 10 years journey. Goodluck to you! Hard work but 100% possible
  2 Reply
Caleb Brown
Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
11mo
Agree with @Paul De Luca. Start simple. That can be a house hack. Gets you in the door without putting a ton of capital at risk. As you do the first deal network and learn. Understand the different cities and pockets. Find the strategy you like and then rinse and repeat that. You have strong income so use that. Also make sure you keep consumer debt non existent (student loans, car debt, etc), this gives you the best chance to go aggressive.
3 Reply
Drea Na
Accountant · Riverside, CA · Member since 2023 · 52 posts · 33 votes
11mo
Hi Madi,
It's not clear from your question how much experience you have with real estate, but it's great to start out with a 4 plex and scale from there. Replacing a w-2 income of150k per year after taxes is challenging - especially if you're not that well versed in the market.
There's several strategies you can use and will need to use based on whatever the market is doing (house hack/fix n flip/BRRR/REIT's etc..). I recommend educating yourself first - there are several books on the platform to choose from. I also recommend networking, going to local real estate investment meet - ups, to create partnerships and connect with investor friendly realtors in your area. If you do a deal a year, you could potentially reach yor goal in ten years. And whatever you do keep a good handle on your numbers from the beginning!
Hope this helps :)
2 Reply
Nadeem Alamgir
Real Estate Agent · Member since 2023 · 831 posts · 577 votes
11mo
High income, no debt, and great credit is a strong place to start.

You can start by house hacking. Buy a 3–4 unit, live in one unit and save aggressively for the next deal. From there, gain some experience and start buying value add properties you can BRRRR and hold onto. Cash flow will improve over time as you build equity and experience. You can also mix in a few flips on the side to increase capital, allowing you to keep buying more deals to hold long term.
1 Reply
James Mc Ree
Rental Property Investor · Malvern, PA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 936 votes
11mo
Think about your debt tolerance. You can pay cash for each property and have high cash flow for each, but a lot of cash sunk into each property or use leverage to invest less cash and also have lower cash flow.
You are asking about cash flow, but the biggest profit you are likely to receive is from appreciation, and in particular appreciation with leverage. The reason works like this:
1. Buy a property for $500,000 cash. It appreciates 10%, so you made $50,000 on paper.
2. Buy a property for $500,000; 20% down: $100,000 cash and $400,000 mortgage. It appreciates 10%, so you also made $50,000 on paper, but that is on a $100,000 cash investment!
#1 Produces more cash flow than #2, but #2 will very likely outperform #1 as a long term investment if historical appreciation remains relatively consistent. Of course, this is very location depend. Buy in a good location for good appreciation.
1 Reply
Steve K.
Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes
11mo
Pretty tough math right now to replace $150k in annual income through rentals, at least if you plan to use leverage (which is the main advantage of real estate over other investment vehicles IMO). I’m not sure about your local market but it is very hard to find cashflow “off the shelf” in most markets currently using the typical 20% down/ 80% leverage (accounting for all expenses accurately that is). This is due to where interest rates are at combined with where market pricing is at. You may have to pay cash or start with negative cashflow properties in good locations that you can expect will provide positive cashflow by the time you plan to retire.
You’ll have to do your own math of course, please don’t consider these hard numbers in any way, but to demonstrate how the math would work lets say you can find properties that through rent increases between now and 10 years from now will provide $500/month cash flow in 10 years. Due to inflation you’ll want to be making more like $225k in 10 years probably, which will likely be roughly equivalent to $150k in today’s dollars assuming historical average inflation continues. Using these (very ballpark) assumptions, you will need about 38 units to retire. I’m not sure what the average cost per unit in your market is (check with a local multifamily/ commercial broker or research this yourself). I’m going to guess maybe $140k/unit? If this is accurate you would need $5.3M if paying cash or $1M if putting 20% down to get to your retirement goal. Again these are not hard numbers but probably within the ballpark. You will of course need to float any properties that you purchase with negative cashflow until they start to spin off positive cashflow so account for that in addition to the down payment/ purchase costs. It takes money to make money in any investment and real estate can be extra capital intensive at times when things go wrong like needing a new roof or new mechanicals, tenant issues etc. So be sure to keep cash on hand for black swan events.
House hacking a new multifamily property every year or so would help you get to your goal with less capital outlay, as you can put as little as 3.5% down on an owner-occupied building, and your interest rate will be about 1% lower than non owner-occ.

I’d look into more active real estate strategies especially value-add and mid term furnished rentals, to reach your goal quicker, and I’d also recommend getting your RE license and working directly in the industry to make extra income, learn the business faster, make more connections, gain access to better deals etc. Good luck!
7 Reply
Denise SuppleeBusiness Member
Realtor · Willow Grove, PA · Member since 2017 · 982 posts · 643 votes
11mo
Hi @Madi Shanahan, nice to meet you here on BP!! This is a question we get often in my club, and it’s not an easy one to answer since it’s partially personal and depends on many variables. With your income, no debt, and great credit, you're starting from a strong position. My advice is to look for smaller multifamily properties like duplexes or triplexes where financing is easier and management is simpler. Run the numbers carefully to ensure positive cash flow before buying. Starting small and building experience will set a strong foundation for scaling up. I hope that helps!
Spark Rental Co-Investing Club577 Reviews
Website View Page
2 Reply
Henry Lazerow
Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11mo
I am in Chicago. Find a 4 unit to house hack, buy low down and repeat in a year. The 4 units tend to cash flow the best. Set your goals as how do I get one good deal and then focus on the next, no need to get ahead of yourself. If buy in a good growing area or do a value add you should be able to pull equity out with a HELOC or cash out refi later on to help fund future deals. I started with a 4 and did a cash out refi to buy two more deals. It's not super fast but if buy quality area properties and do some updates it works. I also have a HELOC now.
Check out Avondale, West Town, Irving Park, Pilsen, Portage Park. Lots of good 4s in these areas. Nice areas to live too. Owner occupant loan let’s you have lower interest rate, only need 5% down and are allowed to buy another after living there 12 months.

Feel free to reach out to chat more.

3 Reply
- Madi Shanahan
  OP
  Member since 2025 · 16 posts · 22 votes
  11mo
  @Henry Lazerow yes I plan on using my VA loan so I don't have to put anything down, and the using the remaining cash I have saved to renovate the units a little if needed
  0 Reply
Matt F.
Rental Property Investor · St. Louis, MO · Member since 2019 · 162 posts · 72 votes
11mo
@Madi Shanahan -- "retire as fast as possible." Do you mean leave corporate but do something else or literally do nothing?
2 Reply
Nicholas L.Pro Member
Flipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
11mo
@Madi Shanahan

you got a fantastic response from @Steve K.
i was going to say something similar - that you'd need $5M+ in free and clear RE.
and i don't think it makes sense to just dump cash into RE like that.
2 Reply
Elealeh Fulmaran
Specialist · Member since 2025 · 483 posts · 270 votes
11mo
Strong position. To retire fast, think systems over a single purchase: house-hack the 3–4 unit if you can, lock long-term fixed debt, then rinse-and-repeat into small multis that meet your buy box and cash-flow day one. Use a simple target: monthly expenses covered by net cash flow; back into how many doors that takes in your submarkets, then focus on the fastest path to 10 positive units as your first milestone to build momentum and lending options. In Chicagoland, be block-by-block: verify rents, taxes, utilities, and landlord rules with a local PM before offering, and favor clean, light value-add over heavy rehabs on the first two. Next step: define your buy box and run a noise-to-numbers scan on 10 listings this week; if five pencil, you’re on pace.
1 Reply
Jarret Jarvis
Real Estate Agent · Chicago · Member since 2021 · 168 posts · 62 votes
11mo
Hey Madi, love your plan and timeline. I’m a Chicago investor/agent and would be happy to help you map a strategy (house-hack 3–4 units now, then scale with the right financing and cash-flow targets to replace your income).

Shoot me a message and we’ll set up a time to chat. I can run numbers for a few neighborhoods and outline a step-by-step path to hit your “retire ASAP” goal.
1 Reply
Ken M.
Investor · Get yourself trained before doing something inadvisable. · Member since 2024 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11mo
Quote from @Madi Shanahan:

I currently make 150K a year after taxes, I have no house, no bills, great credit. I’m going to buy my first 3-4 unit property within the next 3 months, but I was wondering what strategy you’d recommend for me to retire as fast as possible? How many units would I need to retire? Anyone that’s familiar with the Chicago land area and how I can completely replace my job income?
I'm not sure what your tolerance for risk is but I used creative finance
https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/517/topics/1265784-learn-how-to-buy-houses-for-pennies-on-the-dollar-fix-and-flip-brrrr-rental-str#post_7121844

0 Reply
Seth McGatheyBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Milwaukee WI · Member since 2024 · 320 posts · 252 votes
11mo
As others have said. House hack is the easiest way to get started. You could do one house hack a year for 10 years and you should be good to replace your income in 10 years. So start with that. Now if you want to speed it up, consider combining those house hacks with BRRRRing. This will allow you to get some of that invested money back to first off make sure you have enough for the next house hacks. And second possibly help you afford an additional property. Don’t save any of the profits from your properties, reinvest all of it back into your investments. As you pick your house hacks, try to pick some that could work as an AIRBNB at some point. If you self manage those, you can get really awesome tax benefits even on your W2 income. Take those tax benefits and reinvest. If you do all of that, you will easily replace your income in 10 years, likely a lot less. If you want to get some cheaper properties outside of Chicago at some point, feel free to reach out to talk about the Milwaukee market. Best of luck!
[email protected]708-297-0996
Seth McGathey - Shorewest Realtor4.913 Reviews
Website View Page
0 Reply
Garret Rumbea
Inland Empire, CA · Member since 2017 · 151 posts · 79 votes
11mo
Hi @Madi Shanahan Congrats on getting yourself in such an advantageous position.

With where you’re at you could potentially skip small plexes and go straight into larger multifamily esp if you partner with the right team or get a good mentor. The work’s about the same but the returns, financing and scalability are much better.

Whether you go active or passive really depends on what you want out of it. If you want to learn the business ago active and get around experienced operators. If your more so looking for steady income and being hands off passive would be better and can let your capital work for you.

Both options can get you there just depends whether you want to own real estate or build a real estate biz.
2 Reply
- Joe S.Pro Member
  Investor · San Antonio · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
  11mo
  Quote from @Garret Rumbea:
  
  Hi @Madi Shanahan Congrats on getting yourself in such an advantageous position.
  
  With where you’re at you could potentially skip small plexes and go straight into larger multifamily esp if you partner with the right team or get a good mentor. The work’s about the same but the returns, financing and scalability are much better.
  
  Whether you go active or passive really depends on what you want out of it. If you want to learn the business ago active and get around experienced operators. If your more so looking for steady income and being hands off passive would be better and can let your capital work for you.
  
  Both options can get you there just depends whether you want to own real estate or build a real estate biz.
  
  get a good mentor
  
  Where would you suggest to get a good mentor question?
  
  0 Reply
- Garret Rumbea
  Inland Empire, CA · Member since 2017 · 151 posts · 79 votes
  11mo
  @Joe S. Unless you can really add value to someone with experience who’s doing deals finding a free mentor I think is rare so might be best to pay for a mentor, might cost you 5 figures but could def help save you time, mistakes, and in turn money in the long term.
  
  There’s a ton of “mentors” out there so I’d look for someone who’s a full-time syndicator with a strong track record, not just selling a course. You’d def want someone focused on helping you close a deal or at the very least co-GP on a deal, which is why I think paying for a legit mentorship can be worth it.
  2 Reply
Kate Nixon Taylor
Lender · Cary, NC · Member since 2021 · 122 posts · 29 votes
11mo
If you want to grow it quickly, you will need to develop skills to value-add and force equity. If you can get a good team together to rehab-to-rent and buy the right deals, you could BRRRR and recycle the same cash invested.
Feel free to connect! I have lenders that will go up to 90% LTC even with new investors. You do need to have a good credit score.
Cheers!
0 Reply
Aaron ZimmermanBusiness Member
Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11mo
I would say house hacking is a great start. If your goal is to replace your income, you're going to want to do strategies such as rent by the room, short term rentals, or medium term rentals to boost your cash flow while house hacking.

i would look to buy a house hack every year if you can swing it .i would of course make sure that the property cash flows post move out (and it should If you're doing any of the above strategies).

if monies permit, i would consider doing brrrrs as well to accelerate the cycle.

there are a lot of variables that go into unit count and financial freedom number. I'd focus on what you live on, not what you make, and then see what your freedom number is
[email protected]
Brick House CPAs53 Reviews
Website View Page
0 Reply
Charles ClarkBusiness Member
Real Estate Broker · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2020 · 306 posts · 209 votes
11mo
@Madi Shanahan

You’re in a great position to build wealth fast. I’d start with a 3–4 unit house hack using low down payment financing, live in one unit, and reinvest the cash flow and savings into more small multifamily deals every year. In the Chicago area, roughly 25–30 cash-flowing units could replace your $150K income, depending on location and expenses. Focus on value-add properties in solid, working-class suburbs to scale faster.

[email protected]414-719-6090
Raise the Standard RE LLC55 Reviews
View Page
1 Reply
Marcus Auerbach
Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
11mo
Unpopular opinion: there are easier ways to make money than starting to invest in RE in 2025. Make money as in: cash flow. I still think that RE is one of the best investments (provided you have a passion that allows you to deal with the day-to-day long-term).
You'll need about 35 units, at 200k a door that's $7 million and $1.75 million down. Cash flow is really a function of equity, typically about 5% leveraged. So the name of the game is getting to equity, which is neither easy nor quick.
Better to build or buy a service business for cash flow. It does not matter if you install HVACs, make money online sell coffee: pick one. And then drive that cash flow into quality REI and not worry about the cash flow, because that is what your biz does. And if you buy RE for equity instead of cash flow optimized, you'll have 90% fewer headaches.
4 Reply
Ryan SpathBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 566 posts · 377 votes
11mo
It sounds like you're off to a great start solid income, no debt, great credit, and a clear plan. House hacking with an FHA loan is one of the best ways to get started.

Focus on becoming the best person in your market at analyzing deals. For practical purposes, aim to analyze 100 properties, offer on 10, and expect 1 to get accepted. Know your buy box and stick to it.

My wife and I were able to retire from real estate in a little over 10 years and while the COVID appreciation certainly helped accelerate things, it ultimately came down to consistency and patience.

For some perspective: if your goal is to replace $150K in income and you can achieve around a 7% annual return, you’d need roughly $2.1M in invested capital to reach that target.

Best of luck — and remember, real estate isn’t a get-rich-quick game. It’s a marathon. Slow and steady wins here every time.
[email protected]208-600-2814
1 Reply
- Madi Shanahan
  OP
  Member since 2025 · 16 posts · 22 votes
  11mo
  @Ryan Spath thanks Ryan, would you mind sharing what tools you used to analyze your deals?
  0 Reply
Ryan SpathBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2017 · 566 posts · 377 votes
11mo
@Madi Shanahan of course! Send me an email and I'll be happy to share.
[email protected]208-600-2814
0 Reply
Basit SiddiqiBusiness Member
Accountant · New York, NY · Member since 2015 · 8k+ posts · 3k+ votes
11mo
The formula in the amount of rentals required to retire is as follows

Calculate annual living expenses(Shelter, Food, Entertainment, etc)

Calculate how much you make per door

Annual Living expenses / Cash-flow per door = amount of doors you need.
You likely also have to factor in taxes, but if there is no taxes on your rental
[email protected]917-280-8544
Basit Siddiqi CPA4.979 Reviews
View Page
1 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.