Rentals Helped Me Quit My W-2 (And Start My Own Business!)

Lindsay Barrientos built her real estate portfolio while working as a nurse in Los Angeles and investing out of state in northwest Indiana. She said the pivot started after COVID made her rethink nursing as a long-term career, and she used Google, BiggerPockets content, and small investor communities to learn how to buy rentals where her money went further.

Her first deal was a turnkey three-bedroom, two-bath house in Hammond, Indiana, bought with a 25% down conventional loan and rented for $1,400 a month. After letting that property run and saving the cash flow, she moved into Gary, Indiana, where she bought cheaper homes, added value, and used a property manager to handle most of the day-to-day work. She also described one failed rehab that suffered a fire, but the refinance still worked because the appraised value came back far above her total cost.

Over four years, she grew to 12 properties, including five seller-financed deals and one zero-down purchase. She now has an ADU in Los Angeles rented as a midterm, is building another ADU, and said real estate helped her leave her W-2 and launch her own psychiatric nurse practitioner business.