B
rannon Potts, a commercial lender turned real estate investor, has been building his way to financial freedom since 2020. He uses the "build-to-rent" strategy, designing and constructing each rental property himself. This approach provides immediate cash flow and sets him up for an early retirement.

    Potts' interest in real estate investing began when he noticed a pattern among multimillionaires: many made their fortunes through real estate or kept significant amounts of money invested in properties. He realized that this could be his path to financial freedom, especially since he was behind schedule on saving for retirement.

    Growing up, Potts enjoyed watching his parents build their home in Fort Worth, Texas. This experience sparked a passion for construction and design, which he later applied to building his own homes with his wife Mindy. When he started investing in real estate, Potts noticed that each of his builds had equity beyond the initial cost.

    In 2020, Potts began his build-to-rent journey with two projects: a beach house converted into a short-term rental and a fourplex filled with long-term tenants. Both properties generated cash flow immediately, and he continued to build one to two properties per year between 2021 and 2024, expanding his portfolio to 10 doors.

    Potts' strategy involves three key components:

    1. Land: He looks for infill lots that are relatively flat, spending around 15% of the project's cost on land preparation.

    2. Build: Potts keeps his building costs at $120 per square foot and pays close attention to rent prices in his market, using the 1% rule to determine if a property will cash flow.

    3. Tenants: He hasn't had difficulty renting properties in Fort Worth, but multi-families can be trickier to fill than single-family homes.

    Potts expects to hit financial independence with 20 doors and plans to achieve this goal within the next five years. To stay focused on his long-term objective, he wears Hawaiian shirts every day as a reminder of his goal to retire early and live on the beach.