Overview of He Was Making Just $12/Hour: Now He Owns 7 Rental Properties (10 Units)
This BiggerPockets Real Estate Rookie episode follows Nathan Shelby, a North Mississippi investor who started with almost no money, a $12/hour job, and a family-inherited piece of land—and gradually built a portfolio of 10 units across single-family homes, mobile homes, lot rentals, and new construction. The conversation centers on how he treated real estate like a business from day one, used local market knowledge to find overlooked opportunities, and created equity through smart acquisition, rehab, and refinancing.
Nathan Shelby’s Portfolio and Background
Current holdings
Nathan’s portfolio includes:
- 3 single-family rentals
- 1 mobile home
- 4 mobile home lot-rent units
- 2 new-construction projects underway
He operates out of North Mississippi, near the Oxford/Batesville area, and has been investing since around 2016.
Before real estate
Before becoming a full-time-ish investor, Nathan:
- Worked construction
- Worked for a land surveyor
- Sold lighting and construction-related products to contractors
That background gave him a strong understanding of building, materials, and job-site operations—useful experience for both rehabs and new construction.
How He Got Started
Nathan’s entry point was not a big salary or a huge down payment. It started with:
- A property inherited through his wife’s family
- Existing infrastructure already in place
- A mobile home lot-rent setup that required relatively little capital
He and his wife married in 2016, and because they didn’t have much cash, they focused on using what they had rather than waiting for the “perfect” time.
He credited BiggerPockets as a major influence in getting him started, saying the podcast and books helped shape his approach.
The $43,000 Facebook Marketplace Deal
One of the episode’s standout stories was Nathan’s direct-to-seller purchase of a house listed on Facebook Marketplace.
Deal details
- Purchase price: $43,000
- Repairs: about $20,000
- After-repair appraisal: $120,000
- Monthly rent: $1,400
- Time to lease: about a day and a half
Why it worked
Nathan acted quickly and went directly to the seller after seeing the listing. He:
- Asked for more photos and details
- Showed serious intent with a bank letter
- Negotiated in person
- Closed in about six days
The home was rough cosmetically, but he saw the upside immediately. It was a 3-bed, 2-bath, 1,400-square-foot home on a good lot in a solid school district—exactly the kind of deal many investors overlook.
Investing Like a Business
Nathan emphasized that he treated his first deal like a business, not a hobby:
- Ran background and credit checks
- Used tenant screening software
- Collected rent through property management tools
- Kept improving his systems as the portfolio grew
He moved through several platforms over time, including:
- Cozy
- Apartments.com
- Innago
- TurboTenant
He also started realizing that bookkeeping and admin become a real challenge as you scale, especially when you’re juggling:
- A W-2 job
- Rehab work
- Rentals
- New construction
- Personal life
How He Funds Deals
Nathan has primarily used lines of credit secured by completed properties to fund new acquisitions and projects.
His approach
- Rehabs and equity growth on one property help fund the next
- The same strategy is now being used for new construction
- He expects to refinance completed projects later and “stair-step” the cash flow backward
This is essentially a self-funding growth model based on equity recycling.
Why He Uses Multiple Strategies
Nathan’s portfolio blends several strategies:
- Mobile home lot rentals: original base, low overhead, strong cash flow
- Single-family rentals: added stability and long-term value
- Bigger rehab deals / BRRRR-style plays: created equity quickly
- New construction: used to build modern, rentable assets in a strong submarket
He explained that his strategy evolved gradually:
- Start with lot rentals
- Stabilize inherited family property
- Move into single-family homes
- Reinvest equity into new construction
His philosophy was to avoid overextending while steadily expanding.
Biggest Mistakes and Lessons Learned
Nathan was candid about a few regrets and mistakes.
Main mistakes
-
Selling a mobile home too early
He believes he could have turned it into a more profitable rental instead of selling it off. -
Letting some tenants in too quickly
In one case, he skipped full screening for a contractor tenant and later dealt with:- Heavy wear and tear
- Possible overcrowding
- A bed bug issue
-
Not keeping tighter books early on
He admitted that accounting and expense tracking were inconsistent at times, which became more painful as the portfolio grew.
Key lesson
The earlier you build systems, the easier scaling becomes.
New Construction: Why It Works in His Market
Nathan is currently building in a smaller market near Oxford, Mississippi, and believes new construction can work very well there.
Why he likes it
- Strong local demand
- Good school districts
- Traffic and growth from nearby Memphis and Oxford
- A supply-demand gap in quality housing
His projected numbers
- Build cost: around $82,000–$87,000
- Expected rent: $1,250–$1,300/month
- Expected appraisal: potentially near $150,000–$200,000
He noted that in his area, buying an existing home at that price often means buying something older or needing significant work—so new construction can make more sense.
Systems, Management, and Construction Workflow
Nathan still manages many aspects himself, but he now leans on help where needed.
Current support structure
- TurboTenant for screening, rent collection, and accounting
- Facebook Marketplace for rental ads
- A trusted handyman for a lot of maintenance and finish work
- A general contractor consultant to help him learn new construction while he manages the project
How he organizes projects
He keeps track of jobs largely with composition notebooks—one for his W-2 job, one for rentals, and one for construction.
He described his process as “semi-controlled chaos,” but it works for him.
New Construction vs. Rehab
Nathan said new construction has actually felt easier than rehab in some ways.
Why
- Everything is planned in advance
- Fewer surprises than opening walls in a remodel
- Trades can come in and do their specific task
- He used a framer who handled a turnkey exterior/interior shell package, which simplified scheduling
His takeaway: remodels are puzzles; new construction is a roadmap.
Advice and Takeaways for Rookie Investors
What stood out most
- You don’t need a big salary to start
- Family property or overlooked local assets can be the best launchpad
- Facebook Marketplace can uncover real deals
- Treat rentals like a business from the beginning
- Reinvest equity to keep growing
- Strong systems matter more as the portfolio scales
Best lessons from Nathan’s story
- Start with what you have
- Move quickly when a deal makes sense
- Build local relationships
- Don’t ignore bookkeeping and tenant screening
- New construction can work in smaller markets if the numbers support it
Where to Find Nathan
Nathan said he’s most active on Facebook:
- Name: Nathan Shelby
- Business page: Shady Grove Properties
He also said he’s open to helping other investors and answering questions about how he built his portfolio.