Episode #1339 Baselane: Real estate banking and bookkeeping that removes the manual work of managing multi-property finances. Sign up now 👇: https://www.baselane.com/bp *You don’t need to buy dozens of rental properties* to have financial freedom. And if you ask today’s guest, *less is usually more.* For over a decade, *John Crutchfield* was in full-on acquisition mode. Despite *starting with very little money,* he *scaled to over 600 units* across multiple states and *tens of millions of dollars’ worth of real estate.* He even *quit his job* to focus on his portfolio full-time! But then *the market changed.* Interest rates spiked, debt became more expensive, and John’s expenses ballooned. *He had overleveraged his real estate portfolio,* and suddenly, owning more properties _wasn’t_ really making him wealthier. So he did something he had spent years trying to avoid: *he started selling.* And in the process, John learned a *painful lesson about building wealth:* sometimes, having less can actually give you more. In today’s episode, John shares some of the highs and lows from his own real estate investing journey, how he went about *pruning his portfolio,* and why *the number of doors you own doesn’t matter nearly as much* as the cash flow, value, and freedom each property provides. Episode Show Notes: https://lnk.to/biggerpocketsYT Join BiggerPockets for FREE 👇 https://www.biggerpockets.com/signup?utm_source=owned_media Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show! https://www.BiggerPockets.com/Podcastfeedback Buy the Book _Pillars of Wealth_ : https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/pillars-of-wealth?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Sign Up for the Investor Brief Newsletter: https://www.biggerpockets.com/email-subscribe?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Find Investor-Friendly Lenders: http://biggerpockets.com/findlenders Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early or Invest? https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/pay-off-mortgage?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Connect with John: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/johnoson?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none Connect with Henry: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/henryw22?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none