Mike Baum owns just one rental property, but this one property alone has changed his life. It’s allowed him to become such an investing expert that he’s constantly being asked for his opinion on the BiggerPockets forums, and he provides some of the most well-thought-out investing advice on the internet. So why does he have just one rental property, and why doesn’t he grow using his expertise? The answer isn’t that obvious. 

You wouldn’t know it, but Mike is permanently disabled. After overworking so hard that he ended up losing his vision, he was placed on disability for the rest of his working career. This high achiever was forced to slow down and find something else that could replace his day job. Shortly after his diagnosis, he found BiggerPockets and turned a family vacation home into a short-term rental.

Now, he’s got systems and processes that help him self-manage with very few headaches, and he will probably keep this property as his one and only rental for life. Why didn’t he “FOMO” in when everyone was gobbling up real estate in 2020? Why didn’t he grow his portfolio to become the next tycoon? Mike has some clear answers for why he did what he did, and after listening to him, you might change what you want, too. 

In This Episode We Cover

Why you DON’T need a large real estate portfolio to find financial success when investing

Why Mike tells beginner investors that they should NOT buy a short-term rental property

The systems and processes Mike made to automate his vacation rental self-management (so he works less!)

One thing you should do NOW before you start investing in real estate (it’s free!)

The real result of “FOMO” investing and how to stop shiny object syndrome from blowing you off course 

And So Much More!

Links

Short-Term Rental & Airbnb Investing Forum

The BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

(00:00 ) Intro

(03:03 ) Losing Sight After Overworking

(05:53 ) Empty Lake House?

(09:21 ) Managing a Vacation Rental

(12:49 ) Know This BEFORE You Buy

(18:00 ) Just ONE Property

(21:25 ) No-FOMO Investing

(26:49 ) A “Very Interesting” 2025

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-501

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