From Real Estate Rookie to Property Pro with Ashley Kehr, Ep. 698

Ashley Kehr is a real estate investor, educator, and co-host of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Rookie podcast. She started her investing journey in 2014 and has since built a portfolio of over 40 units across residential and commercial properties. Ashley is the author of Real Estate Rookie: 90 Days to Your First Investment and co-author of Real Estate Partnerships, guiding new investors on how to build and scale through strategic collaborations.

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Key Takeaways:

• Real estate investing allows for flexibility, but success requires systems and processes.

• Partnering with trusted individuals can accelerate portfolio growth.

• Living below your means early on provides freedom to take investment risks.

• Scaling too fast without proper infrastructure can create major stress.

• Investing should align with personal lifestyle and long-term goals—not just unit counts.

Topics:

From Accounting to Real Estate

• Left her accounting career after realizing it wasn’t the right fit.

• Took an unexpected opportunity to manage a 40-unit apartment complex.

• Learned property management through hands-on experience, growing to 80 units.

Building a Real Estate Portfolio

• Partnered with a childhood friend’s son for her first duplex investment.

• Focused on buying small, manageable properties before scaling up.

• Expanded her portfolio to over 30 units while managing properties full-time.

Lessons in Scaling and Outsourcing

• Realized she was doing too much alone and needed better delegation.

• Experimented with third-party property management, which led to major challenges.

• Brought management back in-house using virtual assistants and improved processes.

Aligning Investing with Lifestyle Goals

• Initially hustled hard but later shifted focus to more time with family.

• Prefers a “small but mighty” portfolio over constant expansion.

• Invests strategically in flips and select buy-and-hold properties.

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Round of Insights:

• Failure that led to success: Focused too much on unit count and scaled too fast, leading to stress and restructuring.

• Digital resource: Monarch Money for managing personal finances and investments.

• Book recommendation: Hug Your Haters by Jay Baer—teaches effective customer service and tenant communication.

• Daily habit: No strict routine—values flexibility and doing what feels right each day.

• #1 Insight for creating systems to scale: Use SOP tools like Loom and Tango to document tasks and simplify outsourcing. Favorite restaurant in East Aurora, NY: Bar-Bill Tavern.

Next Steps:

• Follow Ashley on Instagram: @WealthFromRentals.

• Check out her YouTube channel: Real Estate Rookie.

• Listen to the BiggerPockets Real Estate Rookie podcast for beginner-friendly investing advice.

Thank you for joining us for another great episode! If you’re enjoying the show, please LEAVE A RATING OR REVIEW, and be sure to hit that subscribe button so you do not miss an episode.