Many people feel that because their local market isn’t great for rental property cash flow, they can’t invest. Don’t tell that to today’s guest, who for the past decade has been doing just that—even while working full-time in the U.S. Military! Today’s guest is Rich Carey, who shares with us his strategy of buying rentals in one location, despite living in many different places across the world. Rich also discusses his strategy of NOT using leverage, instead choosing to buy properties with cash instead, which has allowed him to maximize his cash flow and has given him true financial independence. Rich’s story is inspiring and highly educational, so set aside time today to listen to the whole interview. We think you will really like this one!

Listen here or on your favorite podcast player.

I can't wait to listen, but if he says in the interview that "military guys don't make a lot of money" I'll be disappointed. When I was in I made 2x as much as I do now and had 1/2 the expenses. Hopefully he highlights just how much the military gives you to allow you to save and invest. 

I would love to know how he selected the market he invests in and if he ever wonders about diversification.

As another poster said it’s absolutely true that military members make a lot more than people think they do a lot of it tax free, especially during deployments.

I mean, don't get me wrong, we're not "rolling in it", but unless you have 4+ kids and a wife who doesn't work, you should have no problem saving money and living a nice life. And yes @Adrie Moses-bailey I miss my deployment money, best way to save money lol. 

@Donald S. no not rolling in it but BAH is nice all year long and tax free income plus hazard pay is even nicer on deployment. I am a reservist but my active duty buddies are doing quite alright while learning management at a young age to boot (officers).point being that they basic pay is a lot nicer after having living expenses covered. Of course it doesn’t matter if you go blow it all on a car and alcohol every pay day.

Rich Carey "blows" all his extra money on rentals.

Originally posted by @Donald S. :

I can't wait to listen, but if he says in the interview that "military guys don't make a lot of money" I'll be disappointed. When I was in I made 2x as much as I do now and had 1/2 the expenses. Hopefully he highlights just how much the military gives you to allow you to save and invest. 

Agreed

I did 4 years. made a mediocre salary.....but benefits are ridiculous, though that's hard to appreciate as a 18 year old punk kid.

then I got out and have the VA loan to use

70% disability income tax exempt for life

Bachelor degree paid for with GI bill

Veteran discounts on property taxes for my primary house

army will be the best paying job I'll ever have, by a long shot! Not to mention experience that can't be bought by any dollar amount.

Darn you Brandon! That song is heart wrenching! Well written, and thank you auto-tune. We have a 2 year old son, and you captured the emotions perfectly.

I'm on the same boat as @Donald S. . I was in the Marines myself and with BAH, regular pay and deployment pay, I came back from both my deployments rich. HAHA!

I think it's great how we get to listen to all the different perspectives on this show! I can see how paying off your mortgage would be a good thing. I like the idea of doing that with some of the portfolio but still keeping some houses to leverage. 

Thank you for your service, Rich!

I enjoyed this video being a service member and a newbie to real estate. Thank you BP for another awesome podcast.

It's one thing to invest out of state, but to invest outside of the country is even harder. Over six-eight hours time difference, sketchy, unpredictable phone coverage, and convincing commerical bankers to loan you money sight unseen, makes things difficult. Not impossible, but much more difficult. Keep it up!

Very interesting and inspiring, he lives conservatively and I think everyone who is starting in investing should be like him and once stable then live lavishly in your own terms. Always be smart where to use your hard-earned money

I may have missed it, but what type of rents is he getting on those 30-40k houses?

If I buy a 30k house, it is likely seeing some low level tenants.

Great podcast Rich. I ran from Maxwell as fast as I could.

Do you think that it would be easy to replicate your team in a different city without living there?

Great job rich. I like the strategy stay safe pay off those mortgages and get leveraged when you retire at 20 years and have time to really invest full time.

@Donald S. military has benefits like medical and dental, TA, etc. like Brandon said in the podcast 40k a year or 250k a year you have to live within your means. 

Great podcast- enjoyed it very much.

One thing I didn’t hear mentioned during the part about how he saved money to buy those 20 houses was the possibility that he live(d) on base and therefore had no mortgage and utility costs for his own family’s residence.
Obviously not having to pay out of pocket for your own living expenses helps tremendously to save money to buy RE.

This podcast is nothing short of amazing! I relate to this guy so much!!!!

Recently leaving the military last June I can understand this guys need to invest and utilize every single resource the military gives us. My Fiance' and I just bought our home in Las Vegas using our VA Home Loan and let me tell you; piece of cake! We didn't pay anything down and we got a rate of 3.6% which is hard to beat compared to a regular conventional loan. Our plan is to either move to Texas or Georgia in a year and purchase a 4-Plex with one of our VA Home Loan Entitlements since we're both Veterans and plan to live in one unit while we rent out the other three having our tenants pay our mortgage off for us. Then, after the refinance seasoning period is up in a year we'll use the other VA Home Loan we have and repeat the process in 2 years we will have 8 units, 3 years 16 Units, 4 years 24 Units, 5 years, 50 Units. We're both 26, by the time we're 35 I would like for us to have over 100 Units generating pure cash flow bringing in at least 60-80k/Month becoming financial free in our mid thirties.

Wow, what a great discussion. Very relevant to me as a service member. I learned how important it is to analyze the rental value before the purchase is made and to make sure at a minimum I am breaking even. I have a current situation I need some help with though. I purchased a condo in San Diego in early 2014 and it has appreciated quite a bit, but I am losing about $150 a month in rent. After listening to the podcast I know I should sell the condo, wait for the right time and buy some cheap rentals using equity and a loan, but there are a couple of problems. I love San Diego and don’t want to sell, and I also I predict that it will continue to appreciate for at least another year. Any advice?

I really got a lot from this one. I can relate to Rich’s mindset on personal finance and saving money. You don’t have to have a huge salary to become wealthy. It took me 4 years to by my first, and I’m on track to buy my second soon. I do ok but I’m not close to 6 figures. His success is the result of plain old fashioned financial discipline. It drives me nuts when I see all these posts on BP asking how to invest with no money down. You don’t!! That’s how!! Maybe when you’ve built a track record and can get private money, but that first property comes from working more and spending less for a long period of time.

Originally posted by @Bryan Byrd :

Wow, what a great discussion. Very relevant to me as a service member. I learned how important it is to analyze the rental value before the purchase is made and to make sure at a minimum I am breaking even. I have a current situation I need some help with though. I purchased a condo in San Diego in early 2014 and it has appreciated quite a bit, but I am losing about $150 a month in rent. After listening to the podcast I know I should sell the condo, wait for the right time and buy some cheap rentals using equity and a loan, but there are a couple of problems. I love San Diego and don’t want to sell, and I also I predict that it will continue to appreciate for at least another year. Any advice?

Free advice? Sell the condo and 1031 into a market that is less susceptible to a bubble burst. Perhaps a MFR.

Ben Narino keep up the great work.

Rich keep adding to the military millionaires!

Whatever the pay is in the military, it's well deserved! Thank you all for your service which allows all of us to do what we do everyday. Great podcast Rich!