While shifting interest rates and market uncertainty have caused many prospective buyers to step back, seasoned real estate investors are uncovering a rare window of opportunity. Far from a market standstill, today’s economic environment is presenting aggressive acquisition conditions—including deep price reductions of 10% to 15%, specialized financing structures, and strategic builder concessions—that have not been seen in years.
To unpack how modern investors can capitalize on these dynamics, the BiggerPockets Podcast recently sat down with Zach LeMaster, CEO of Rent to Retirement and a veteran real estate investor. LeMaster, a former Air Force optometrist who transitioned from local duplexes to managing a national turnkey enterprise, shared his personal blueprint for scaling a portfolio, avoiding common out-of-state pitfalls, and leveraging builder incentives to achieve strong returns heading into 2027.
Chronology: From Military House Hacking to National Turnkey Leadership
LeMaster’s journey into real estate began roughly 15 years ago while he was serving as an Air Force optometrist on a military health professions scholarship. With limited early-career capital, he utilized a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loan—a product allowing zero-dollar down payments and no private mortgage insurance (PMI)—to acquire his first property.
- Phase 1: Local House Hacking (Circa 2011–2012): LeMaster purchased his first property, a duplex, using a VA loan. He lived in one half while renting out the other, unknowingly practicing classic "house hacking." He continued purchasing local duplexes and multi-family assets over the next few years.
- Phase 2: Out-of-State Expansion and Lessons Learned (2013): Facing local capital constraints and seeking higher yields, LeMaster and his wife expanded out of state, targeting low-income housing (Section 8 "two-flats" and "three-flats") in Southside Chicago. The paper returns looked promising, but continuous maintenance hurdles, tenant turnover, and administrative challenges with the housing authority created an uphill battle.
- Phase 3: Refining the Systems: Rather than abandoning out-of-state investing, LeMaster refined his strategy. He focused on asset classes with lower maintenance demands (such as new construction) and built reliable boots-on-the-ground management teams. This shift ultimately allowed him and his wife to replace their active optometry income.
- Phase 4: Launching Rent to Retirement: Utilizing the operational systems he built, LeMaster founded Rent to Retirement, growing it into one of the nation’s leading turnkey real estate companies specializing in guiding investors through out-of-state and new-construction portfolios.
Supporting Data: Leveraging New Construction and Builder Concessions
A central thesis of LeMaster’s current investment strategy centers on residential new construction, particularly within the fast-growing Sunbelt and Midwest markets.
Unlike individual homeowners—who can often afford to let an unsold property sit on the market for months—large-scale national and regional homebuilders operate under strict balance-sheet metrics. They cannot afford to hold excess inventory indefinitely. Consequently, days-on-market for new construction remain significantly higher than historical norms, placing immense negotiating leverage into the hands of buyers.
The Numbers Behind the Strategy:
- 10% to 15% Base Discounts: Individual buyers negotiating with builders on single-family and small multi-family homes in A- and B-class markets (sub-$500,000 price points) can routinely expect baseline concessions or price reductions of at least 10%. Through bulk acquisitions and economies of scale, turnkey operations like Rent to Retirement often secure 13% to 15% discounts.
- Rate Buydowns to the 3%–4% Range: While standard market mortgage rates have climbed, builders frequently absorb points to offer rate buydowns, allowing buyers to lock in loans in the 3% or 4% range without absorbing the upfront cost personally.
- Low-Down-Payment Structures: By partnering with local credit unions and specialized lenders, investors can utilize commercial or portfolio loans requiring only 5% to 15% down, preserving liquidity for additional acquisitions.
Official Responses and Strategic Frameworks
During the podcast discussion, host Dave Meyer and LeMaster detailed several fundamental rules for navigating today’s underwriting environment. Both experts emphasized that modern real estate success relies heavily on self-auditing and matching personal resources—time, skill, and capital—to the right strategy.
1. The Time and Skill Audit
Meyer highlighted his concept of "Start with Strategy," noting that every deal requires three core pillars: money, skill, and time.
- Investors who are handy and possess ample free time may find success flipping properties or executing BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat) strategies.
- Busy professionals lacking renovation experience are often better aligned with turnkey residential real estate or partnering with established operators, outsourcing property management to protect their highest-value asset: time.
2. The Dollar-Cost Averaging Approach to Housing
Drawing a parallel to the stock market, LeMaster and Meyer stressed the power of continuous investing across all market cycles.
"If you can just attach your long-term performance to the long-term performance of the housing market, you’re going to be good," Meyer noted, explaining that trying to time the market perfectly often results in missed opportunities.
3. Maximizing Tax Advantages
Real estate wealth is rarely built on cash flow alone; tax policy remains one of the greatest wealth-accelerating mechanisms available to investors. Key tactics highlighted include:
- Cost Segregation Studies: Accelerating depreciation schedules to generate large paper losses (e.g., up to 30% on a $300,000 property, creating $90,000 in potential deductions).
- Short-Term Rental Tax Loopholes: Utilizing specific IRS codes (such as the "substantially all" test) to offset active income without necessarily meeting stringent Real Estate Professional Status (REPS) hourly tests, provided specific operational criteria are met.
- 1031 Exchanges: Perpetually deferring capital gains taxes when trading up into larger or better-performing assets.
Implications for 2027 and Beyond
The current real estate climate offers a distinct contrast to the hyper-competitive, low-interest-rate environment of the early 2020s. While underwriting deals requires significantly more creativity and rigorous analysis today, the long-term implications for disciplined investors are profound.
- Reduced Institutional Competition: Recent regulatory pressures and shifting economics for institutional buyers (such as large REITs and private equity groups) have scaled back Wall Street’s footprint in single-family acquisitions. This retreat leaves more room for retail and individual investors to secure favorable terms directly from builders.
- The Power of the Up-Cycle: Historically, buyers who accumulate assets during periods of market hesitation or elevated interest rates capture the maximum upside when economic conditions eventually normalize and appreciation accelerates.
- Simplicity Over Complexity: As investors mature, the initial appetite for distressed fixer-uppers often gives way to a preference for operational simplicity. New construction assets—backed by builder warranties and lower initial maintenance overhead—provide predictable cash flow and appeal to higher-quality tenants.
As the market heads toward 2027, the overarching message from veterans like LeMaster and Meyer is clear: success belongs to those who refuse to sit on the sidelines. By combining creative negotiation, aggressive tax planning, and a long-term holding horizon, modern real estate investors can turn current market friction into generational wealth.
