Chad Carson: How to Retire with the Fewest Rentals Possible in 2026

You do not need a big, expensive, or time consuming real estate portfolio to reach financial freedom. It is completely possible to build wealth and even replace your entire income with real estate investing in a way that fits into your lifestyle. Yes. You can do this even in the 2026 housing market. Today, we're sharing the mindset and investing principles you need to make real estate investing work for you. Small and mighty real estate investors, keep listening. Hey, everyone. I'm Dave Meyer, head of real estate investing here at BiggerPockets, and I am a rental property investor buying rentals for more than fifteen years now. Today on the show, we have one of our all time most popular guests, someone I am happy to call a friend, Chad Carson. You know Chad from his book, The Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor, or his YouTube channel, Coach Chad Carson. And Chad's big picture real estate investing philosophy has stayed consistent for as long as I have known him. He's all about setting realistic goals and growing a portfolio that minimizes your stress levels and enables the life you want. On this episode, we're gonna dive into the exact types of deals Chad recommends seeking out in 2026, even for investors who want to spend not that much time on their portfolio, maybe five hours per week or less on their real estate investing. We'll talk about the single real estate skill with the highest potential dollar return you can learn and practice in 2026, and we'll reveal a couple of the levers you can pull to create more good deals even if the numbers that you find on the MLS don't pencil out right away. Let's bring on Chad. Chad, welcome back to the Bigger Pockets podcast. Thanks for being here. Thank you, Dave. Great to be here. I love having you on. This is always a fun show. I always like to hear from other investors I respect like you, Chad. What do you think the state of real estate investing is here in the 2026? As a real estate investor who's been in this for twenty two years, I really resonate with the idea that this is a good buying opportunity compared to the last five years. I I I feel more optimism in my own local market in the number of motivated sellers who are willing to play ball. I feel optimistic in that that, you know, people I'm working with and I know are buying properties consistently at at below market prices and locking in long term interest rates. So if you just look at it from a fundamental standpoint, for real estate investors in particular, yes, there's a lot of choppiness. Yes, there's a lot of changes, but this is a this is a prime time. That's what I'm saying. I love it. Well, I I completely agree. I think, you know, I've shared some of my thoughts on the on the show …