Hit $200K in Cash Flow in 2024

Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes

January marks the 13th anniversary of the purchase of my first rental property. Since I learned a lot from this community, I wanted to share my success with you. In 2024, I hit $200k in cash flow from my properties. If you're interested in seeing how that all breaks down from an income and expense standpoint, I created this Sankey diagram to share with you:

As for me, I'm planning to leave my w-2 job and take a little career break before deciding what's next for me. Best of luck to all you out there.

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Marcus Auerbach

Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes

Nice work and thanks for sharing David!! Love the visual!!

A few things that newer investors should note:

- it took 13 years to get there, you have to be patient
- rents are high at about $1,750, so probably a quality neighborhood
- looks like that is after vacancies, probably low turnover?
- very low remaining mortgage balance!! Grow wide first, then deep (pay off)
- your little expenses add up fast

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Garrett Dube
Rental Property Investor · Toledo · Member since 2023 · 9 posts · 12 votes
1y
That's a great accomplishment! What are you using to create that chart?
5 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Garrett Dube:

That's a great accomplishment! What are you using to create that chart?

Thank you. I used sankeymatic.com after a bunch of massaging of the numbers in a spreadsheet.
1 Reply
Brian G.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1y
@David Shaun sweet! So you are averaging $2k/mo for rent across your portfolio? Why is your mortgage cost so low at only $44k/year?
7 Reply
Bryan Stengel
Real Estate Agent · Long Island · Member since 2018 · 88 posts · 38 votes
1y
Congratulations David! How did you achieve this type of cash flow?
3 Reply
Samuel DioufBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Columbus & Cleveland, OH · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1y
Let's go!! 🙌 🙌 🙌
[email protected]614-662-1652
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JD MartinBusiness Member
Moderator
Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
1y
Nice job! Looking over your numbers I'm surprised a couple of them are so low - mortgage expenses, repairs and capital expenses. Based on that number of units I would expect much higher figures - did you buy these buildings all/mostly cash? Even at a high cap rate you've got several million dollars of market value here, so I'm curious about your base numbers. This would make a good case study.
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6 Reply
Krishna Guthikonda
Member since 2024 · 4 posts · 3 votes
1y
Congratulations David Shaun!! great accomplishment. This tells we dont need lot of rental properties.

2 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Brian G.:

@David Shaun sweet! So you are averaging $2k/mo for rent across your portfolio? Why is your mortgage cost so low at only $44k/year?

A little under. The income includes things like late fees, a rented garage, and utilities that are billed back to the tenant.
I did some accelerated pay downs and refinanced when rates were more favorable. I also did a 1031 exchange from a different property that gave me a bunch of cash for one of these purchases.

0 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @JD Martin:

Nice job! Looking over your numbers I'm surprised a couple of them are so low - mortgage expenses, repairs and capital expenses. Based on that number of units I would expect much higher figures - did you buy these buildings all/mostly cash? Even at a high cap rate you've got several million dollars of market value here, so I'm curious about your base numbers. This would make a good case study.
Thank you.

I budget 10% of rent for repairs, maintenance and capex. I happened to get lucky this year and had minimal expenses there. I don’t expect every year to be like this.

For the mortgages, I did some accelerated pay downs and refinanced when rates were more favorable. I also did a 1031 exchange from a different property that gave me a bunch of cash for one of these purchases.
2 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Krishna Guthikonda:

Congratulations David Shaun!! great accomplishment. This tells we dont need lot of rental properties.

Thanks! I’ve always focused on quality over quantity.
2 Reply
Jason B.
Wheaton, IL · Member since 2015 · 42 posts · 21 votes
1y
Congratulations @David Shaun - those are awesome numbers, and should hold up with the low liabilities, regardless of market. Great job in 13 years!
2 Reply
Marcus Auerbach
Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
1y
Nice work and thanks for sharing David!! Love the visual!!
A few things that newer investors should note:
- it took 13 years to get there, you have to be patient
- rents are high at about $1,750, so probably a quality neighborhood
- looks like that is after vacancies, probably low turnover?
- very low remaining mortgage balance!! Grow wide first, then deep (pay off)
- your little expenses add up fast
9 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Marcus Auerbach:

Nice work and thanks for sharing David!! Love the visual!!
A few things that newer investors should note:
- it took 13 years to get there, you have to be patient
- rents are high at about $1,750, so probably a quality neighborhood
- looks like that is after vacancies, probably low turnover?
- very low remaining mortgage balance!! Grow wide first, then deep (pay off)
- your little expenses add up fast

Thanks!

3 units turned over in 2024. The neighborhoods are not upscale but they are desirable so good tenants are typically found quickly.
0 Reply
Nicholi Hibbert
Investor · NJ · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 0 votes
1y
That's amazing! All from 3 properties?
0 Reply
Account Closed
Rental Property Investor · New Braunfels, TX · Member since 2022 · 409 posts · 408 votes
1y
Quote from @David Shaun:

January marks the 13th anniversary of the purchase of my first rental property. Since I learned a lot from this community, I wanted to share my success with you. In 2024, I hit $200k in cash flow from my properties. If you're interested in seeing how that all breaks down from an income and expense standpoint, I created this Sankey diagram to share with you:

As for me, I'm planning to leave my w-2 job and take a little career break before deciding what's next for me. Best of luck to all you out there.
How much did you pay for these 3 buildings initially and how many years did it take you to earn the money to pay for them?
3 Reply
JD MartinBusiness Member
Moderator
Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
1y
Quote from @Marcus Auerbach:

Nice work and thanks for sharing David!! Love the visual!!
A few things that newer investors should note:
- it took 13 years to get there, you have to be patient
- rents are high at about $1,750, so probably a quality neighborhood
- looks like that is after vacancies, probably low turnover?
- very low remaining mortgage balance!! Grow wide first, then deep (pay off)
- your little expenses add up fast

Thanks Marcus, I completely missed the 13 years part - somehow I thought it was all done in 2 years. Great job!
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Skyline Properties
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3 Reply
Jeremy H BartonPro Member
Member since 2024 · 9 posts · 4 votes
1y
Thanks for sharing David. Definitely an inspiration as a new investor and I appreciate seeing the approach you took. What are your plans for 2025?
1 Reply
Ryan Fox
Investor · NV and CA · Member since 2016 · 374 posts · 227 votes
1y
@David Shaun- Amazing work! How did you get the insurance so low - it works out to $1,253 per month for all properties.
1 Reply
Eric Bilderback
Real Estate Agent · Sisters, OR · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
1y
I love posts like this. Would you mind telling us what you spend per month on life? Are you 100% real estate? Did you set out to retire with real estate, did you have a goal or an amount you wanted to make?
Hopefully this post gets tons of hits and traction would love to see a bunch more back and forth in here.

Congratulations!
2 Reply
Valerie Anthonyova
New to Real Estate · Los Angeles · Member since 2024 · 12 posts · 5 votes
1y
Quote from @David Shaun:

January marks the 13th anniversary of the purchase of my first rental property. Since I learned a lot from this community, I wanted to share my success with you. In 2024, I hit $200k in cash flow from my properties. If you're interested in seeing how that all breaks down from an income and expense standpoint, I created this Sankey diagram to share with you:

As for me, I'm planning to leave my w-2 job and take a little career break before deciding what's next for me. Best of luck to all you out there.

enjoy your holiday

2 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Ryan Fox:

@David Shaun- Amazing work! How did you get the insurance so low - it works out to $1,253 per month for all properties.

I thought it was high. It's much higher than it was a few years ago and is continuing to rise. I use brokers but they've been a bit of a disappointment lately.
0 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @David Shaun:

January marks the 13th anniversary of the purchase of my first rental property. Since I learned a lot from this community, I wanted to share my success with you. In 2024, I hit $200k in cash flow from my properties. If you're interested in seeing how that all breaks down from an income and expense standpoint, I created this Sankey diagram to share with you:

As for me, I'm planning to leave my w-2 job and take a little career break before deciding what's next for me. Best of luck to all you out there.
How much did you pay for these 3 buildings initially and how many years did it take you to earn the money to pay for them?

It was a little under $2m for all my properties that I currently own when I purchased them. Not including closing costs. I bought the first one 13 years ago when I was in my late 20s.
1 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Eric Bilderback:

I love posts like this. Would you mind telling us what you spend per month on life? Are you 100% real estate? Did you set out to retire with real estate, did you have a goal or an amount you wanted to make?
Hopefully this post gets tons of hits and traction would love to see a bunch more back and forth in here.

Congratulations!

Thank you Eric.
In addition to the rental properties, my wife and I have a paid off house, paid off car, and about $1.4m in retirement accounts, brokerages, and savings.
We live in a HCOL area and our expenses are $9.5k per month even though we live pretty modestly.
I set out initially to have real estate pay for at least some of my expenses in order to give me more freedom and financial security.
4 Reply
David Shaun
OP
Member since 2025 · 14 posts · 64 votes
1y
Quote from @Jeremy H Barton:

Thanks for sharing David. Definitely an inspiration as a new investor and I appreciate seeing the approach you took. What are your plans for 2025?

Thanks Jeremy.
I'm going to leave my w-2 job and focus on my health and shaking off the burnout I've been feeling. I'm going to take some time before deciding what's next. My wife intends to continue working so that helps for sure.
0 Reply
Karolina Powell
Member since 2021 · 107 posts · 82 votes
1y
Congratulations this is amazing!
If you have the data easily available, can you give us cash flow figures throughout the 13 years? I would find some motivation seeing how long it takes to stabilize a portfolio and start to see the profit.
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