Real Estate Rookie: Turning Her House into a Part-Time Rental Property (Makes $2,000/Month!)

Podcast: Real Estate Rookie
Hosts: Ashley Kehr & Tony J. Robinson (BiggerPockets)
Guest: Ashley Perry
Date: October 20, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights Ashley Perry’s journey to financial freedom through creative real estate investing—starting with her own primary home. Ashley shares how she turned her house into a part-time Airbnb earning $2,000/month, navigated the logistical and emotional sacrifices, and bought a duplex (her first multifamily) to house-hack further. The conversation is packed with actionable rookie advice, candid lessons, and practical insights for those just beginning to build their real estate portfolios.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Defining Financial Freedom

• Ashley Perry's Motivation

  • Financial freedom was always a subconscious goal; gained clarity during her remote-work transition in the COVID era.
  • "I've kind of always been striving for [financial freedom]. Most of my life, I just didn't have a name for it and didn't know exactly what it looked like." (00:48)
  • Ashley's version is more about lifestyle and flexibility vs. a strict number—enabling travel, creativity, and supplementing (not replacing) her W2 with passive income. (01:59)

• Hosts’ Perspective

  • Financial freedom means different things for different people; don't compare your version to others'.
    • "For all the Rickies...your definition of financial freedom doesn’t have to match mine or Ashley’s." – Tony (03:04)

Turning a Primary Home into an Airbnb

• The Set-Up & Sacrifice

  • Preparing her lived-in home for guests was daunting—purging personal items, organizing every corner, and orchestrating convenient absences.
  • She’d leave to stay with parents or friends, often relocating pets and essentials.
    • "Having to move all of my pets at the same time...was just a lot." (05:24)
  • At the beginning, she listed every date available, then grew strategic (blocking off time for herself); ultimately spent half of 2024 away from her own home. (07:14)

• First Successes & Numbers

  • Mortgage: $2,500
  • First weekend Airbnb booking: $866 (3–4 nights) (07:34)
  • Over 2024: $24,000 gross from Airbnb, but the process was tiring and required significant lifestyle management.
    • "Last year, doing it half of the year, I made almost $24,000 just in one year, which felt really amazing." (08:33)

• Transitioning the Property

  • By 2025, Ashley decided to stop short term rentals and instead rent the home long-term for $3,500/mo, easily clearing $1,000/mo above her mortgage. (08:33)

• Reflections on Sacrifice

  • Both hosts stress that not every rookie needs to make such big leaps, but everyone should define their own "sacrifices" in pursuing bigger goals.
    • "Ask yourself, what are the other sacrifices you can make to put yourself in the same position?" – Tony (10:44)
    • "Sometimes you have to try it and see if you can live with it and decide that you can't." – Ashley Perry (10:44)

Buying a Duplex: The Next Step

• How She Decided to Buy Again

  • Decision to purchase a duplex was spontaneous, spurred by desire for scaling; wasn’t sure she could afford it, used a HELOC and other savings.
  • Pre-approval gave her a $750k price point—she immediately began property shopping. (13:59)

• Buy Box & Search Process

  • Criteria: 2+ units, sizeable land (half-acre), creative/expansion potential (zoning for ADU, storefronts), owner-occupancy (16:36)

• First & Second Property Attempts

  • First attempt at a duplex fell through due to complications.
  • Found second duplex: much larger units, half-acre, existing tenants, three-car garage, and land zoned for up to 13 units (realistically 7).
  • Sold for $710k with $17k in seller concessions toward interest rate buy-down. (17:44–19:18)
    • "After a little bit of back and forth, they actually accepted it at that number. And I was elated." (19:18)

Seller Concessions & 2:1 Buy Down Explained

• Seller Concessions: Money seller pays buyer to cover costs like repairs or interest rate buy-downs; boosts negotiation leverage. (19:32)

• 2:1 Buy Down: Temporarily lowers interest rate (by 2 points year 1, 1 point year 2). Buyer gets short-term cash flow relief.

  • "So for the first year, it drops by 2 percentage points...then for the second year it drops 1%..." (19:32)

• Negotiation Tips: Sellers typically prefer price reduction (improves reported sale price); buyers prefer credits (reduces out-of-pocket at close). (21:53)

  • Notable Debate:
    • "If I'm the buyer...I would rather the seller credits because then I'm still getting a loan for the amount of the property." – Ashley Kerr (21:53)
    • Outstanding question on how seller credits vs. price reduction affect taxes—hosts suggest asking tax professionals. (23:12)

Inheriting Tenants – Challenges & Lessons

• First Experience with Tenants

  • Two existing tenants—one very helpful, one withdrawn.
  • Both leases up soon, but Colorado law allows up to 91 days’ notice. Negotiated escrow $ from seller for potential eviction. (24:37)

• Navigating Tenant Move-out

  • Initiated “Cash for Keys” (forgiving security deposit & offering cash for earlier departure).
  • Emphasized the importance of documentation—emails, photos, notices—to protect everyone during tenant transitions.
    • "I'm trying to make sure that everything is documented as much as possible...It sounds cold, but...it's to protect both of us, honestly." (27:50)
  • Payment collection and communication were challenging.
  • Ashley Kerr shared her own legal story—documentation was key to winning a court case.
    • "That's what saved me in this case...do not ever feel guilty about documenting or feeling cold about it." – Ashley Kerr (33:00)

Rookie Lessons From the Field

1. Modular vs Manufactured Homes (36:06)

• How She Learned the Difference
  • Had to clarify with lender & appraiser for financing—modular homes can qualify for conventional loans; manufactured typically can’t.
  • Modular: Parts built elsewhere, assembled onsite.
  • Manufactured: Built offsite, delivered whole, sometimes have a HUD tag.
  • Lender helped overturn appraiser’s initial mistake and qualify her deal. (36:22–39:41)

2. Mineral Rights Complications (41:06)

• Property #1’s Hidden Hurdle
  • Previous owner had sold mineral rights to a gas company; future use of the land could be compromised if drilling permitted.
  • Opened the hosts’ and audience’s eyes to the impact of mineral vs. surface rights—even on city land. (41:06–44:21)
  • "It sounds...not as terrible as a point five acre in the middle of the city. That's very weird." – Ashley Perry (44:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Airbnb sacrifice:
  • "I was leaving my home at least half of the month. Sometimes it was a little chaotic." – Ashley Perry (06:00)
• On risk-taking:
  • "It felt like a big audacious goal that honestly I wasn't even sure that I could accomplish. I didn't really know my numbers." – Ashley Perry (13:59)
• On dealing with tenants:
  • "It feels like an invasion of privacy, obviously, but...I had a lot of insight into how each of them kept the property..." – Ashley Perry (24:37)
• On the value of documentation:
  • "I knew I was doing nothing wrong, but nobody else will believe me unless you have that documentation." – Ashley Kerr (33:00)
• Modular homes tip:
  • "You can get modular homes financed with traditional financing. And so it was a concern that this house was going to appraise as a manufactured home, and therefore my financing would fall through..." – Ashley Perry (36:22)

What's Next for Ashley Perry? (45:05)

• Renovating her new duplex (with potential to split and add more units)

• Exploring building an ADU above the garage

• Plans to repeat this house-hack/refi process and expand her portfolio

  • "At some point would love to be able to refinance this place... and then buy another property and potentially do another owner occupancy situation." – Ashley Perry (45:05)

Where to Find Ashley Perry

• Instagram: AshleyCreates
• TikTok: @AshleyCreates and @WildWornThreads

Summary prepared for listeners who want actionable takeaways, not just inspiration—a realistic blueprint of what it takes to get started as a real estate rookie!