What 10 Years in Real Estate Taught Us
Last month, Katie and I sold off another good portion of our real estate portfolio.
If you’re new here, we bought our first rental back in 2015 — a single-family home in Charleston, South Carolina. Over the years, we expanded into seven markets with a mix of short, medium, and long-term rentals. Along the way, we also flipped houses, and we built a lending business that’s still running strong today.
We sold a big chunk of the portfolio in 2022 — right before rates spiked (sometimes you get lucky). And last month, we sold even more. Today, we no longer own any single-family rentals. What’s left are an apartment building and a handful of medium-term rentals — rental units geared toward traveling professionals.
After nearly a decade in the game, here are a few of my biggest takeaways:
Real estate will test your communication skills.
If you want to learn how to communicate really well with your spouse, buy a rental property together.
It forces you to problem-solve at a high level and make joint decisions under pressure.
Choose your partner — and your properties — wisely. Being in business together for over a decade has created a stronger personal relationship between us. I can’t recommend this enough for married couples.
2. The network is invaluable.
If you do it right, you’ll build an incredible network of investors, tradespeople, and lenders.
We leveraged our network into new business ventures, including our hard money lending operation.
These relationships are easily one of the best returns on investment.
3. It’s not passive — it’s a business.
There’s always something to do. For some, that’s the thrill. For others (like me, today), it’s noise.
Even with good systems and managers, real estate is hands-on. It rewards persistence and patience — but it’s work. It always comes down to what the best use of capital and time is for your situation.
4. Leverage cuts both ways.
We often bought real estate with 20% down, but there were time where we structured deals with $0 out of pocket.
Those looked great on paper — the returns were enormous in percentage terms — but the debt service was heavy.
Higher leverage can magnify gains, but it also magnifies stress and squeezes cash flow.
5. Inflation hedge? Sort of.
Real estate can protect against inflation, but not perfectly.
Yes, your mortgage payment stays fixed — but everything else adjusts: insurance, taxes, labor, materials.
Contractors know there is a shortage of people in the trades so it’s easy to be taken advantage of here. Building a reliable, honest team is crucial for your success.
Inflation protection is partial at best.
6. People will treat your property like it’s not theirs.
Tenants (and their pets) often have different standards of care than owners do.
It’s part of the business, but it can be emotionally draining — especially when you’ve put time, money, and care into the property.
7. Government rules the game.
Regulations, rent control, permit delays, property tax spikes — they all affect your bottom line.
The COVID-era eviction moratoriums were a stark reminder that policy risk is real.
A lot of investors who didn’t hold reserves either didn’t survive that period or they lost a portion of their portfolios.
8. Appreciation often wins out over cash flow.
If I could do it again, I might have held more coastal properties.
They didn’t cash flow as well in the beginning, but they appreciated significantly more and coastal rents increased faster.
Because of the run up in real estate pricing since the GFC (Global Financial Crisis), appreciation ended up being the real driver of returns for us.
Where We’re Headed Next
After ten years, our view is simple: real estate remains a great long-term wealth builder — but only if you have time and patience.
We’re not walking away from it. We’re just holding less of it.
With a lighter footprint, we can:
Reinvest in our active businesses (where returns on time and energy are higher)
Diversify into other asset classes through Axiom’s alternative investment platform
Maintain flexibility and liquidity for when opportunities arise
If you’re looking for tax-advantaged income, real estate can be an excellent fit. Just be prepared: it’s not passive income and, in the beginning, it is a low-margin business.
For us, this season was invaluable. It sharpened our communication, expanded our network, and taught us discipline. I am far better today at analyzing investment opportunities which has made me a far savvier financial advisor.
These experiences helped develop the mindset we have today.
A Final Thought on the Market Today
I’ll add this, because it’s come up often in conversations:
I’m hearing far fewer clients or prospective clients in 2025 express a desire to buy rental properties. The last three years — since interest rates took off in 2022 — have made deals incredibly hard to pencil.
And honestly, I don’t know how part-time investors are making the numbers work in today’s environment. Keep in mind:
We had rental properties with interest rates in the 2’s.
That alone made a lot of our early deals strong performers.
In the end, it was the appreciation on our assets that turned them into big wins — not the cash flow. The low interest rates gave us breathing room to allow time to pass where we captured the appreciation.
Buying rentals today with rates in the 6–7% range is concerning to me. There’s always inefficiency and opportunity in real estate, but unless you’re getting:
a true off-market deal, or
a seller-financed opportunity,
…I genuinely don’t know how many people are penciling these properties into profitable investments right now.
So I’m curious:
What’s your experience with real estate today? Are you buying, selling, or thinking about getting in?
I’d love to hear what you’re seeing in this market. Book a call with me here.
Mike Bargetto
Financial Advisor
Axiom Wealth Solutions
602.292.4910
Disclaimer: For educational purposes only. Not intended as a recommendation to sell a particular product or service and not intended as personalized advice for the reader's portfolio. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.