How to Become a Multifamily Millionaire with Brandon Turner from BiggerPockets

I am so excited to have as my guest today Brandon Turner. Brandon is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and speaker, widely recognized as one of the foremost experts on real estate investing. He is also the popular host of the BiggerPockets podcast with over 100 million downloads, best selling author of several books, and founder and managing member of Open Door Capital. He has been featured in numerous online and print publications like Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com, and Money Magazine.

Brandon first shares his background story and how he got into real estate. After getting his college degree in history, Brandon knew that he had two options: become a history teacher or become a lawyer. He chose the latter. But pretty soon he realized that being a lawyer really stunk. He wasn’t ready for 60 to 100-hour work weeks just to be able to retire rich at seventy years old. So, he decided to rebel against that by selling his house and buying a duplex just as the market crashed in 2007. That started his journey into multifamily real estate.

We then move on to discussing how Brandon got involved with BiggerPockets. When he was 24 years old, Brandon bought a twenty-four unit apartment building. He spent a couple of years fixing it up and by the time he was 27, the building was done and all of the units were rented. He decided to quit his job and retire early. Soon, he started guest posting on BiggerPockets, the biggest real estate blog at the time. He became friends with Josh Dorkin, founder of BiggerPockets and (according to Brandon) he came up with the idea of starting a podcast.

Brandon then explains his decision to move to Maui two years ago. He was living in western Washington at the time with 300 cloudy days a year. One day, he was at a kid’s birthday party and met Jared. Jared was also a businessman who moved to Hawaii a few years prior. Brandon shares that at that moment his mindset expanded and he decided to visit Hawaii for a month. He loved it and decided to go again, this time for three months. At the end of this trip, he ended up buying a house on Maui.

We then talk about Brandon’s company Open Door Capital. Brandon first owned a property management company called Open Properties in Washington State. He was buying a couple of properties a year, but he realized that wasn’t enough. In 2018, he decided that he wanted to go bigger. He started Open Door Capital in Hawaii with his friend Brian Murray with the goal of owning 1,000 units and 50 million dollars in real estate in the next three years. Today, they have 3400 units and 197 million dollars in real estate.

Eventually, we dive into discussing Brandon’s new books The Multifamily Millionaire, Volumes I and II. Brandon explains his stack method of exponential growth in real estate that is described in Financial Freedom in Five Years Through Multifamily, Volume I. He explains the difference between linear and exponential growth and how multifamily allows you to go from 1 unit to 5, to 20, to 50 and to reach financial freedom through five or six purchases in five years. He also goes on to explain a bit more about small multifamily and how to find your first deal. Brandon’s advice is to define your Crystal Clear Criteria: (1) your property type (2) location (3) condition (4) price range and (5) profitability.

Lastly, we talk about the biggest mistakes that people make when they go into the world of multifamily. According to Brandon, the biggest mistake that people make is that they are treating it like a hobby. Eventually, they get frustrated and they don’t stick with it. But if they treat it like a business, their chances of achieving that exponential growth and financial freedom are much higher.

Don’t miss this incredibly fun and inspirational episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast, with Brandon Turner, truly an amazing guy and businessman!

Notable Quotes:

“I like multifamily. Multifamily is easier to treat like a business”

Brandon Turner

“Most of us just accept the life that we’re given and we don't really think outside of that until something breaks you out of it.”

Brandon Turner

“I was not happy with where I was in life and I believe that's because I was not living up to my potential or what I knew was possible.”

Brandon Turner

“It shows the power of having a clear vision, getting the right people on board, getting really good at a certain niche, and then having a system by which you manage those people.”

Brandon Turner

“Those of us who are growth-minded, we're always pushing to the next level, and trying to get a deeper understanding of what the world really is, and how we function in it.”

Brandon Turner

“Our mindset determines our actions and our actions determine our results.”

Brandon Turner

“What I've come to realize is that our mindset has way more to do with success than the tactics.”

Mike Simmons

“For somebody who is just getting started, if you're willing to take on the challenge of that size of a property like I was on my first 24-unit, it can get you out of a 9-to-5 job. It can just completely change your life.”