How Dave Went from Broke, Living in Grandma’s Basement to Rental Millionaire
09 March 2026

How Dave Went from Broke, Living in Grandma’s Basement to Rental Millionaire

BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

About
This investor started with $0 in the bank, waited tables to buy rental properties, secretly moved into a retirement community to save money on rent, and borrowed a down payment just to get into his first home. Now, 16 years later, he’s financially free, has surpassed the millionaire mark, and never got caught in the “buy a hundred units” trap. 



This might be one of the most intriguing guests we’ve ever had on the show. He went against all odds to build wealth that a job couldn’t take away, found “secret” rental units everybody overlooked, and even reverse-engineered government documents to find out where the next prime rental property location would be, so he could buy exactly where the demand was going.



Some would call him a genius; others, a pioneer. But we just call him the man with sandwich crumbs on his shirt because today we’re finally sharing the Dave Meyer origin story, and a lot of it we didn’t even know.



In This Episode We Cover

How to go from broke twenty-something-year-old to real estate millionaire before you’re 40 

You don’t need a down payment? How to partner up to cover your first real estate investment 

Sneaking into a retirement community to pay lower rent (worth the risk?)

The secret rental units that most people overlook (Dave and Henry have found them)

The best rental ever? How to use local government data to pinpoint exactly where to buy 

Moving abroad while managing rental properties? How Dave kept his rentals running while in a different time zone 

And So Much More!



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