7 Rentals in 2 Years by Buying in an Affordable Market Everyone Ignores

0:00Brandon Turner:Nick Burke had been listening to this podcast for almost 10 years before building his rental portfolio. He knew he always wanted to invest in real estate, so he finally took the leap and he rented out his condo as a test. Well, the rent started rolling in and the management wasn't as hard as he thought. So in 2024, he decided it's time to start buying rentals. But he was living in New Jersey, which is a high cost, low cash flow real estate market. He needed to buy somewhere with affordable home prices that had population growth, that had equity upside, and was only a short plane ride away. Well, he found that perfect market, and it's probably one you've already written off.

0:40Brandon Turner:Now, all in this one market, Nick has bought six rental properties with one more under contract as we speak. He is doing the impossible, buying rentals with credit cards and successfully paying them off. achieving the perfect burr in today's market where people say you can't do that. And he's doing it from over 500 miles away while working a full-time job. Nick took almost a decade to get started, but has now built an entire real estate portfolio in just two years. If you're still stuck on the sidelines, hearing Nick's story is bound to get you in the game.

1:19Brandon Turner:What's going on, everybody? I am Henry Washington, co-host of the BiggerPockets podcast. Today, we've got a great investor story with Nick Burke. So let's jump into it. Mr. Nick Burke, welcome to the podcast. Hey, Henry. Happy to be here, man. Happy to be here. Sounds like you've done quite a bit in a reasonable period of time. So why don't you tell us how you got into real estate in the first place? I originally got into real estate back in 2021. I started with a condo that I lived in myself for a few years. and I've always done research with bigger pockets and I always knew I wanted to get to the point where I could own rentals and kind of do all those nice things.

1:56And I finally got to the point where I rented out that condo. And once I got to see what the power was to actually owning a rental and seeing how that kind of panned out, I said, well, let me figure out a way to get into this and scale at some point. The biggest issue is me living in New Jersey is that it's a hard market the cash flow in on a single family house. It's possible, but it's tough sledding nowadays. So I did a little bit of research and I landed on Detroit as a market and starting in 2024, that's when everything started.

2:28Brandon Turner:What is it that you were doing for a living or that you currently do for a living? And like, what drove your decision to go from like where you are to starting to invest? Yeah. So currently I work my nine to five as a tech recruiter. So I've always had a sales and tech recruiting background. So that's what I've done since I've been out of college. And I've always had an interest in real estate. Risk dad, poor dad was kind of my introductory kind of moment into real estate and what that could look like. And ever since back in the day, I said, I'm going to figure this out at some point. It's just a matter of what.

3:00Brandon Turner:And it took a few years, but we're here today. Yeah. You said you were listening to the podcast for 10 years. There's a lot of people who are in that boat, right? Who've probably been listening to this podcast or some sort of podcast for years or doing a ton of research prior to taking their first step. Do you feel like that amount of time was what you needed before you jumped in? Or did you feel like there was some fear or hesitation? I'd be curious to know, do you feel like you could have or should have jumped in sooner? So I would say it had everything to do with the fear of the unknown. I think that that's what can get most people that want to get started in anything.

3:35And because of not knowing what the entire process would look like, I was a bit apprehensive to start any sooner. But once I had the primary and eventually converted that into a rental, that's what kind of opened my eyes up to what could be possible.

3:47Brandon Turner:Right. And I like that process too, right? We often say like, you should set some goals first, but after you set some goals, then you should pick a strategy. Obviously the strategy you pick needs to meet the goals that you've set. And then if you can't do this, the strategy that you need to do to meet your goals in your backyard, you should look somewhere else. And it sounds like that's kind of the process you went through. So talk to me about that decision-making process of selecting a market because lots of people ask this question of Dave and myself all the time. What market should I pick? What went into you researching a market and then what did you eventually land on?

4:22So I would say all of the work that I put in to try to find the right market for me was ultimately finding a place where I could have a home that could cash flow in a market that had a lot of opportunity and experiencing a resurgence. I feel like for me, I don't want to buy a house that's over half a million dollars for my first home as a rental and things go south as a result of just jumping in too deep. And I wanted to have a place where I could buy homes at a decent price and be able to provide value and force that appreciation.

4:49Brandon Turner:I like that you, one of your criteria was in not just an affordable market, but a market where you can afford the price point, but it's going through a resurgence. I believe is the wording that you used, which is a pretty smart thing because essentially what you're saying is you're on the front of the wave of new interest in an area, right? And so that helps you to ride rent prices up. It helps you to ride appreciation up. That's a good thing to look for. So what market did you find that fit your criteria? Yep. So the market that I operate in solely at this point is Detroit. So right there in the Midwest, I know that there's been quite a few people that have talked about it now recently, but I remember back some time ago that Detroit wasn't a place where a lot of people would touch.

5:34But I would say now the narrative has changed quite a bit. And I'm just trying to be a part of it and add value to the community where I can.

5:41Brandon Turner:That's a big city to jump into. What gave you the confidence that that was the right choice? I did some due diligence just to understand what was happening in a few different markets. And one thing that I appreciated about Detroit in particular, is that over the last few years, it has been experiencing population growth, which is something that couldn't have been said about the city for quite a few years prior. So that was one of the biggest things that stood out to me. And then seeing the rent to price ratio being what it was, I thought that this could be a good opportunity for me to jump into a market where I can provide value and then also do bird deals and get that infinite cash on cash return that everyone's kind of seeking right now.

6:21Brandon Turner:And I assume you didn't have any ties there. You've never lived there. This was just a completely cold market for you. Yep. I've had zero relationships in the city of Detroit prior to doing the due diligence. It just came down to where I thought things could work and where I wanted to give it a try and see what could happen. I think the biggest thing is just giving yourself a shot. And I think that that's what mattered to me the most is where can I go where I can have a shot? And for me, you know, it's only a hour and 15 minute flight from the Philadelphia airport. So a little bit of convenience.

6:52Brandon Turner:Did you go to the market prior to buying anything? Prior to buying the first house, no. I had a lot of conversations with agents. I actually used the BiggerPockets agent finder to have a conversation with a few different agents. Ended up landing on one from using that system. And once he gave me the rundown of where to look at in the city and what not to look at, that's when we started the search. So that's how it all started. I love it. Shameless plug for the Bigger Pockets Agent Finder tool. But one of the hardest parts about out-of-state investing isn't finding the deals and it isn't finding money for deals.

7:30Brandon Turner:It's simply building a team of people that you can trust from a distance. Because that team of people, like they are your literal lifeline to your deals. They can make or break you, whether you're going to be profitable or not profitable. And it can be a scary thing to have to figure out how to find a team of people that you can trust in a place that you've never been to. And good agents are typically very well connected in the real estate community. Good agents have a list of trusted contractors, trusted lenders, trusted title companies. So I love that you used the BiggerPockets agent finder to find an agent that you could start to work with, start to build a relationship with.

8:11Brandon Turner:did that agent help introduce you to some of the other people that you're working with on your on your team now? Yes, 100 percent. And I would say that's the most important part for me was I wanted to make sure I found an agent that actively invested themselves so that I knew they had resources that I could also count on as well. So he was the gateway. And I can attest a lot of my success from the early going to him and getting me started in that particular market. So you landed on Detroit and now you got to put your money where your mouth is, right? So what did your first deal in an out-of-state market look like?

8:45All right. So my first deal, it was a two-bed, one-bed from house with a one-car garage. I purchased this home for$59 ,000 and I put in roughly$18 ,000 into the home. So I'd say the all-in was around$77 ,000. And when the home appraised, it appraised at$89 ,000. Okay.

9:04Brandon Turner:Had a little bit of equity. Yep. So ended up having about$15 ,000, I would say, was left in the deal when it was all said and done. But when I looked at the equity, I had over$27 ,000 built up. So I felt like for me, that was a pretty solid win, just given my first introductory into it and learning just a different market. $59 ,000 is a pretty low price point and$18 ,000 for the rent-out. So that's about$77 ,000. Some lenders won't go under$100 ,000. So how the heck did you find some money for this deal? Yeah. So for this deal, it was using 0 % interest credit cards. So that was what I did for the first deal.

9:41Brandon Turner:Okay. So you went and you found a credit card with 0 % interest, I'm assuming for some introductory period. How long was that credit card on 0 % interest? Yep. So the cards all had at least a 12 month 0 % interest period. So that's what I ran with for the first deal. So you put yourself on a clock. You had to get this deal renovated and refinanced within that period or else you were going to get hit with a bunch of interest. Yep. So I was under the gun. OK. And how long did it take you to get this one renovated? This house, it only required about 18 grand of rehab and it was mostly cosmetic. So I'd say the turnaround was about a month and a half or two max.

10:20Brandon Turner:Oh, that's really good, man. That's really good. I think that using an interest-only credit card to invest in real estate is absolutely possible, but not everyone should do it, right? That's a strategy for someone who's very responsible with their money because the consequences of you not being responsible are far greater than if you take out maybe like a hard money or private money loan because you're gonna get hit with 25 % interest sometimes and they backdate that interest from the first payment. So if you aren't good with money, this probably isn't the strategy for you. But if you are responsible and can sustain the payments and get that thing paid off in the introductory period, I think using interest-only credit cards, it's truly just access to money and money is the tool, but you gotta understand the rules of the money that you're borrowing.

11:18Brandon Turner:And it sounds like you did pretty good getting the renovation done in a couple of months. So you bought the property, you finished the renovation, you rented the property out, then you went to refinance it so you could pay off the credit cards, but you had to leave $15 ,000 in. So there was still a Delta that was left in. So that$15 ,000, I paid out of pocket. So it's always important to have reserves and make sure that you do have cash on hand. So I did use the$15 ,000 that I had stashed away to cover that amount. But once I seen the amount of equity that I could have forced, there's so much more opportunity, which led me to go into the next deal.

11:54Brandon Turner:OK, that's amazing. And so what lessons did you learn in that very first deal? Because up until this, it was conceptual. You had picked a market. You hadn't been there yet. It all looked good on paper, but then you executed. Did your execution match the research? So I wouldn't say it did entirely, but I only say that because I think I walked into it expecting the ARV to be slightly higher. when I realized that you make money on the buy. So I had to be mindful that next time my purchase should be lower so that I can achieve that perfect BRRR that everyone's looking for in 2026. I assume then this was a deal you found on the MLS?

12:32Yep, the first deal I found was on the MLS.

12:34Brandon Turner:I mean, that's a solid base hit, first deal. Sounds like you essentially got paid to get an education. You bought a rental property, you rented the thing out and now you've got all these lessons which you are hopefully able to take into the next deal. And so I'd love to dive in to what your next deal look like in Detroit, but we're gonna do that right after the break. Here's why savvy real estate investors are obsessed with bonus depreciation. It lets you take that rental property or commercial building you own and depreciate most of the cost against your income, legally 100 % IRS compliant. That's instant cashflow improvement.

13:11Cost Segregation Guys is the number one firm nationwide, specializing in identifying these faster depreciating assets in your property. They've completed tens of thousands of studies across all 50 states from remote cabins to apartment complexes. So if you own investment property, this is a no brainer. So visit costsegregationguys.com slash BP for your free proposal and find out how much you could save this tax season. Do you ever notice how every passive investment somehow turns into a very active lifestyle? Active spreadsheets, active phone calls, active stress. Here's a better question. What if you could buy brand new construction homes, 10 % below market value, in the best markets across the country without making real estate your second job?

13:54That's exactly what Rent to Retirement does. They're a full-service, turnkey investment company handling everything for you. In some cases, investors get 50 % to 75 % of their down payment back at closing, plus interest rates as low as 3.75%. They've partnered with BiggerPockets for over a decade, helping thousands invest smarter. If you want to do the same, visit biggerpockets.com slash retirement to learn more. You've upgraded how to buy properties, but did your insurance get the memo? When investors start scaling, insurance can't be an afterthought. Most policies were designed for a single property, not multiple rentals, LLC ownership, short-term stays, or properties mid-rehab.

14:32That's where blind spots can creep in. NREG works exclusively with real estate investors. They understand portfolios, how risk compounds as you grow, and why insurance should protect your upside, not just a checkbox. One uncovered claim can undo years of progress. Before your next acquisition, review your insurance. Talk to NREG and get investor-specific coverage from specialists who actually understand real estate at nreg.com slash bppod. That's n-r-e-i-g dot com slash bppod. Billion-dollar investors don't typically park their cash in high-yield savings accounts. Instead, they often use one of the premier passive income strategies for institutional investors, private credit.

15:11Now, the same passive income strategy is available to investors of all sizes, thanks to the Fundrise Income Fund, which is more than$600 million invested and a 7.97 % distribution rate. With traditional savings yields falling, it's no wonder private credit has grown to be a trillion-dollar asset class in the last few years. Visit fundrise.com slash pockets to invest in the Fundrise Income Fund in just minutes. The fund's total return in 2025 was 8 % and the average annual total return since inception is 7.8%. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Current distribution rate as of 12-31-2025.

15:46Carefully consider the investment material before investing, including objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. This and other information can be found in the income funds prospectus at fundrise.com slash income. This is a paid advertisement.

16:00Brandon Turner:All right, we are back on the BiggerPockets podcast with investor Nick Burke, who just finished telling us about his very first out-of-state deal, investing in Detroit while living in New Jersey. You learned a lot of lessons. You had some success. Some things didn't go exactly to plan, but it sounds like you've made a plan to be successful on the next deal. So what did the second one look like? The second deal, I made sure that I was going to stick to my buy box and I took my time and waiting for it. This deal I ended up purchasing in December of 2024. So this was a three bedroom, one bathroom, two car garage purchased at 62 ,000.

16:36The rehab was roughly 19 ,000. So my all in was right around 81. And when the house appraised, it ended up appraising at 128 ,000.

16:46Brandon Turner:Okay. So you bought this three, one needed 19 in renovation. That's not bad for a three, one only needing $19 ,000 in renovation. Not bad. And then all in for$81 ,000. Is this in the same neighborhood or did you change areas? I changed areas. So the first home was purchased on the west side of Detroit. This one's over on the east side. Okay. And what made you change areas? I was looking for the right opportunity to buy it, to have a good purchase price. So I made it clear that I wanted to find a house that fit my buy box. And for me at the time was south of 70 with an ARV of 125K or more. Ah, so you were looking for higher value homes.

17:23Yes. I think that's what I was really trying to target. I would definitely say that I settled for the first house because I wanted to get into the game so much that I took whatever came my way versus the second deal I made. So I stuck to my guns and picked a house that made sense for me.

17:38Brandon Turner:Again, taking the lessons learned, which was that you wanted more value and that you wanted to purchase better. And then you applied that by finding a neighborhood where values were higher, but you kept your purchase price fairly low in comparison to what that property size was. So you paid 62, you had to put 19 in it. You're all in for 81. Did you use the credit cards again or how'd you get this one done? So for this particular deal, at this point, I feel like I had a little bit of momentum. So I reached out to a private money person. I said, listen, I have a deal. Here are all the comps. Here's the breakdown.

18:10I'll cover the rehab if you can cover the purchase price. So they covered the 62 acquisition and I I paid the rehab out of pocket.

18:18Brandon Turner:How did you connect with this private lender? It was a friend of mine that also had some interest in the business and wanted to do real estate. And I said, well, hey, look, I think I have a good thing going on out here. Let's have a dialogue and see if we can make something work as an introductory for you in real estate. And then also for me to show you what a deal looks like. This is great because one of the ways to get into this business is to partner with people. And oftentimes when people hear the word partner, they think there's an equity share. But a partnership can just be a lending relationship as well.

18:47Brandon Turner:So you knew you had somebody that had some income that they wanted to invest with. And after doing your first deal, plus running out your primary, probably made you feel like, hey, I've got some experience. Because remember, borrowing money, folks, is a responsibility, right? Like you are going to use somebody else's money to help to build a portfolio. You have to be able to do it responsibly. So you found a deal you had some confidence in. Now, a lot of people are scared to have conversations with people about borrowing private money. What was that experience like? Did you feel like you were going and begging somebody for money?

19:22Brandon Turner:Did you feel like you were offering them an opportunity? How did you present yourself in this conversation? Yeah. So the goal for me was to establish a mutually beneficial relationship. It's an opportunity for them to get a return on their funds more than what they can get in the stock market or through different avenues. And since there was already trust prior to, it was very easy to kind of pitch the idea and say, listen, here are the exact numbers. Here's why I'm confident. It's either a yes or a no. Do you want to do it or not? That's it. That's the secret sauce because you never have to view talking to a private lender as you asking for money.

19:58Brandon Turner:In my opinion, you're providing them an opportunity because if you truly do have a good deal that you're getting some equity in on day one, then you're giving them an opportunity that's backed by a real estate asset that provides some level of protection. And it sounds like you were able to buy a reasonable deal, bought for 62. You financed the 19 out of pocket, all in for 81, refinanced for 128. Did you pull everything out on that refinance or did you have to leave some in there as well? Nope. I had the ability to pull out up to 96 ,000. So there was more than enough to pay off the lender, put a little cash in my pocket and still have quite a bit of equity in the deal.

20:38Brandon Turner:This would be your second property that you're managing a renovation on. And it sounds like you're getting them done pretty efficiently. So A, how did you find the contractor you used for the first one? And then B, did you use the same contractor again on the second one? Yes, I did use the same contractor on both deals. And this contractor actually came from the agent that I worked with. He actively works with them as well for his projects. So I said, listen, I'm not gonna, if it ain't broke, I ain't gonna fix it. All right. If it works, I'm going to follow the process. And, you know, it's been good business so far.