What does it take to go from buying a $43,000 condo to becoming the founder of a property management software used nationwide? In this episode of the Invest2FI, Craig Curelop sits down with Nathan Miller—longtime real estate investor and founder of Rentec Direct—to uncover his journey from humble beginnings to building a rental portfolio and a successful SaaS business. Nathan shares how house hacking before it was cool helped launch his real estate journey, how he scaled during the 2008 crash, and why he built Rentec Direct to solve his own landlord headaches. You’ll gain actionable insights on long-term investing, spotting value in foreclosures, and building tech solutions from scratch. Whether you’re a buy-and-hold landlord, tech-savvy investor, or someone curious about building wealth slowly but surely, this episode is packed with golden nuggets.
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Watch the episode here
Listen to the podcast here
Podcast Highlights:
[03:50] Inspiration to start investing and first real estate deal
[06:59] House hacked before strategy became mainstream for investors
[09:50] Used condo equity to purchase better property and rent
[11:35] Bought during 2008 crash using smart financing strategy
[20:26] Foreclosure deal became long-term rental at massive appreciation
[21:50] Moved into duplexes after realizing scalability of multi-units
[24:06] Self-managing rentals led to building Rentec Direct platform
[28:34] Warns against assuming all markets behave the same
[31:45] Shares how Rentec’s features save thousands of hours
[39:18] Funded deals using savings, no liquidity events needed
[44:50] Answers why he still won’t accept venture capital
[46:29] Shares biggest lesson from hard-to-rent new builds
[48:00] Final Four segment: best advice was stop renting
[49:05] Created Rentec solely to save people time
[53:28] Advice for young investors to take action now
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Important Links
HOST
Craig Curelop
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefiguy
📘 Book: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/the-house-hacking-strategy
🏘️ Buy Real Estate: https://bit.ly/3V3QDze
GUEST
Nathan Miller
🌐 Website: https://www.rentecdirect.com/
🔗Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-miller-9087458/
💻 Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/hitechlandlord
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🔗 Affiliate Links
- Don’t miss out on resources of great value for real estate starters. Visit FITeam’s website! — https://www.thefiteam.com/
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