How to Buy a Small Multifamily Rental (2-4 Units) in 2025 episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 24, 2025 · 38 MIN

How to Buy a Small Multifamily Rental (2-4 Units) in 2025

from BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast · host BiggerPockets

Small multifamily rentals may be the secret to turning average investors into millionaires. These unassuming properties are in the perfect “sweet spot” for scaling a real estate portfolio, helping you reach financial independence faster with more passive income than regular, single-family rentals, but with even fewer expenses. Today, we’re giving you the five steps to buy your first small multifamily and why 2025 may be the best time to get in the game. Dave, your host, is financially free right now primarily because of small multifamily rentals. His first rental was a small multifamily, he house-hacked a small multifamily, and over a decade later, this remains his favorite real estate investment—for good reason. Small multifamily properties bring in more rent but leave you with only one roof, one furnace, and one foundation to worry about. You can use the best, lowest down payment debt to get one, and just a few of these properties could make you financially free. So, how do you buy your first multifamily property? We’ll break down the five beginner-friendly steps to get there, from picking a market to finding deals, getting a loan, analyzing for cash flow, and closing and managing. This is the small multifamily blueprint that works in 2025 (we’re currently using it to invest!).  In This Episode We Cover Why small multifamily rentals are in the perfect investing “sweet spot” for 2025  The five simple steps you can take this year to buy a small multifamily rental  Why smaller multifamily rentals often outperform larger ones How to get into your first small multifamily for just 3.5% down  The best real estate markets for small multifamily investing in 2025  And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1178 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Small multifamily rentals may be the secret to turning average investors into millionaires. These unassuming properties are in the perfect “sweet spot” for scaling a real estate portfolio, helping you reach financial independence faster with more passive income than regular, single-family rentals, but with even fewer expenses. Today, we’re giving you the five steps to buy your first small multifamily and why 2025 may be the best time to get in the game. Dave, your host, is financially free right now primarily because of small multifamily rentals. His first rental was a small multifamily, he house-hacked a small multifamily, and over a decade later, this remains his favorite real estate investment—for good reason. Small multifamily properties bring in more rent but leave you with only one roof, one furnace, and one foundation to worry about. You can use the best, lowest down payment debt to get one, and just a few of these properties could make you financially free. So, how do you buy your first multifamily property? We’ll break down the five beginner-friendly steps to get there, from picking a market to finding deals, getting a loan, analyzing for cash flow, and closing and managing. This is the small multifamily blueprint that works in 2025 (we’re currently using it to invest!).  In This Episode We Cover Why small multifamily rentals are in the perfect investing “sweet spot” for 2025  The five simple steps you can take this year to buy a small multifamily rental  Why smaller multifamily rentals often outperform larger ones How to get into your first small multifamily for just 3.5% down  The best real estate markets for small multifamily investing in 2025  And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1178 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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How to Buy a Small Multifamily Rental (2-4 Units) in 2025

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This episode is 38 minutes long.

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This episode was published on September 24, 2025.

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Small multifamily rentals may be the secret to turning average investors into millionaires. These unassuming properties are in the perfect “sweet spot” for scaling a real estate portfolio, helping you reach financial independence faster with more...

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