The “Repeatable” Strategy That Helped Him Buy 6 Rentals in 6 Months (Working a W-2)

July 27, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Brian Waters, a California firefighter and father of twin boys, realized his pension wouldn't be enough for retirement. In five years, he's built a portfolio of 20 rental properties from 2,000 miles away, buying six of them in the last six months alone—all while working a full-time job, coaching football, and staying present with his family. His secret isn't a single strategy but a carefully engineered, repeatable system that blends turnkey investing with the BRRRR method, a hybrid he calls "Burrkey."

From Turnkey to BRRRR: The Pivot for Scale

Waters started with turnkey properties—companies that find, renovate, and manage the deal for you. This was ideal for a busy professional, but he hit a wall. "Now I have to save my way to the next one," he says. Each turnkey deal required 20-25% down and didn't build much equity quickly. His solution was to transition into the BRRRR method (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), which allows him to recycle capital and build equity faster. He didn't abandon turnkey entirely; he used the skills he learned from those providers—understanding markets, numbers, and team dynamics—to inform his own process. The key insight: turnkey is great for learning and passive income, but BRRRR is the engine for rapid scaling.

The Buy Box: A Recipe for Repeatability

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **The Problem: Coming Up Short for Retirement** - Brian ran the numbers and realized his firefighter pension wouldn't be enough to retire, leading him to real estate.
2 (01:39) **Background: From Airline Pilot to Firefighter Investor** - Brian introduces himself and explains why he started investing out of state from California.
3 (03:03) **The Turnkey Strategy: Pros, Cons, and Why He Outgrew It** - Brian explains the turnkey model and why it was a great start but limited his ability to scale.
4 (07:18) **Pivoting to the BRRRR Method for Faster Scaling** - Brian explains why he switched to the BRRRR strategy to build equity and recycle capital.
5 (09:20) **Building a Long-Distance Team: The Key to Out-of-State Investing** - Brian reveals how he found reliable contractors and agents from 2,000 miles away.
6 (11:07) **The "OPK" (Other People's Knowledge) Networking Approach** - Brian shares how he leverages free knowledge from the BiggerPockets community to build his team.
7 (14:52) **The Power of Free Networking on BiggerPockets** - Dave highlights that anyone can access this network for free on BiggerPockets.com.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Worried you’ll come up short in retirement? When Brian Waters ran the numbers, he realized he was still decades away from being able to leave his nine-to-five. He needed a lifeline, and he found one in real estate investing. In just five years, he has scaled to 20 rental properties, and against all odds, he’s already on track to retire early!

When we last checked in with Brian, he was buying simple, affordable, turnkey properties 2,000 miles away. But recently, he’s pivoted to a “hybrid” investing strategy you’ve probably never heard of, one that’s helping him scale his real estate portfolio even faster. In the past six months alone, he’s added six rentals—all while working full-time, coaching football on the weekends, and staying fully present with his family.

Today, Brian shares the highly “repeatable” formula he’s using to tie everything together, makes a convincing case for keeping your W-2 job while you grow your real estate business, and shows you how to use other people’s money (and knowledge) to stack properties much faster than you ever could alone.

In This Episode We Cover

The “hybrid” investing strategy Brian used to buy six rentals in just six months

The underrated benefits of keeping your W-2 job while investing in real estate

Leveraging other people’s money (and knowledge) to buy rental properties faster

How to find agents, contractors, and property managers for your out-of-state investing team

The pros and cons of turnkey rental properties (and who should buy them)

And So Much More!