The 2026 Housing Market is Here (We’re Changing Our Tactics)

Episode #388

Join the Future of Real Estate Investing with Fundrise:
https://www.fundrise.com/bpmarket

Episode Show Notes:
https://lnk.to/onthemarketYT

Join BiggerPockets for FREE 👇
https://www.biggerpockets.com/signup?...

Grab Kathy’s Book, Scaling Smart :
https://store.biggerpockets.com/produ...

Sign Up for the On the Market Newsletter:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/email-s...

Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area:
http://biggerpockets.com/agentmatch

Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early or Invest?
https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/pa...

Connect with Dave and Our Panel of Expert Guests:
Dave Meyer: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/d...

Henry Washington: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/h...

James Dainard: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/j...

Kathy Fettke: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/k...


2026 is finally here! And if you can still read this sentence without seeing double, you’ve made it!

But this year, things are going to be a little… different. We usually talk about the best places or strategies for buying rentals, but we’re going on a bit of a detour to start the year by discussing our real estate resolutions, all of which will actively help us retire early. Want to retire with rentals, too? This is the episode for you, and we’re sharing the strategies we’re using in 2026 to get there.

Kathy shares a new way she’s optimizing her real estate portfolio, with the goal to increase cash flow by 10% on her current portfolio (not buying more rentals!). Henry takes an opposite approach to most investors, opting not to scale his portfolio and instead doing something much safer. Dave details his “End Game”—the ultimate real estate portfolio for early retirement.

You can copy these experts’ strategies in 2026 to retire with rentals, too!

00:00 Intro
02:29 1. Optimize Your Portfolio with AI
07:59 How to Actually Use AI
08:59 2. Pay Off Properties Instead
15:39 Don’t Grow, Optimize!
18:24 The Cash Flow Roadshow is Back!
19:01 3. Build Your “End Game” Portfolio
24:02 Our REAL (Not Real Estate) Goal