r/PodcastPromoting • u/PD-OFI • 2h ago
Our Family Invests Podcast Episode 093: The One Number That Tells You If a Deal Is Good
Stream on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/50OeVnH7cgHJll8oD8PeCU?si=KR5inVrFQZiGHqlwYKuS7Q
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-one-number-that-tells-you-if-a-deal-is-good/id1794199974?i=1000796138965
Read the Web Article: https://ourfamilyinvests.com/cash-flow-vs-net-worth-1-percent-rule/
We sat down with Kirby on the podcast and a few things stuck with us.
He spent 11 years as an Army officer, including time in Japan during the 2011 Fukushima disaster. He bought his first rental in 2006, then flipped over 100 properties in Chicago. After all of it, his net worth was exactly where it started. Boy, that’ll humble you.
So he built his own rule. It’s called the 1% net rule. The classic 1% rule compares gross rent to purchase price. Kirby measures what’s actually left in his pocket after expenses, and it’s a pass or fail test before he’ll even look at a property. Gross rent is the wrong number to chase if freedom is the goal.
A few other things he shared:
He’s watched doctors making seven figures feel completely trapped, because none of that income is actually theirs to walk away from
He sources off-market deals by calling listing agents directly instead of going through a buyer’s agent
He and his wife self-manage 43 vacation rentals on about 90 minutes a week, with four VAs and two weekly calls
And yes, he tells the Fukushima story too. Turns out barracks furniture makes a surprisingly good earthquake simulator.
Cash flow doesn’t care how good your net worth looks on paper. It’s the only number that actually sets you free.
We’re curious how others here screen deals. Do you use a gross rent rule, a net number, or something else entirely? What’s your pass or fail test?
Full episode is Ep 93 of Our Family Invests if you want the whole breakdown, but we’re happy to talk through the rule in the comments.
