{
  "id": 1905696,
  "title": "An investor using real estate to retire early says his rents fell in 2026, but he still increased his profit by focusing on 3 expenses.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/an-investor-using-real-estate-to-retire-early-says-his-rents-fell-in",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-19T09:30:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-investor-cutting-costs-to-increase-profit-build-wealth-2026-8"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Brannon Potts, a real estate investor, has built a diverse portfolio of single-family and multi-family properties to achieve early retirement. Despite recent rent declines in North Texas, Potts has managed to boost his profits by focusing on reducing three significant expenses: mortgage payments, property taxes, and insurance.\n\nPotts has refinanced several of his mortgages when interest rates dropped, refinancing at a 5.3% rate and reducing his interest costs. He has also challenged property-tax assessments, lowering his tax bills from 16.6% to 11.7% of his rental revenue over the years. Additionally, Potts has increased his insurance deductibles and started shopping for better policies, cutting his insurance costs from 6.2% to 5.2% of his rental revenue. By tracking and analyzing his expenses using common sizing, Potts identifies cost-cutting opportunities and maximizes his returns.",
  "summary": "Brannon Potts has watched rents soften in North Texas over the past few years. Still, \"my overall profit has gone up,\" said the investor.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}