BiggerNews: How Much of a Return Should Your Investment Property Produce?

What makes a “good” real estate deal in 2025 and beyond? How much of a return should your investment property be producing? Are real estate returns good enough in this tough housing market to beat out other performing assets like stocks? Today, we’re sharing our exact investing criteria, defining what makes a “good” real estate deal to us, and how you can use key indicators to identify deals worth the effort.

We’re breaking this episode into a few parts as we touch on the primary types of investment properties: long-term rentals, short-term rentals, and house flips. Garrett Brown is our resident vacation rental expert and shares how he’s routinely getting twenty percent (or greater) returns by reinvesting in his short-term rentals. Next, familiar face James Dainard discusses the unbelievable house-flipping returns he nets, but are they worth the risk?

Finally, Dave shares the metric he goes after when investing in long-term, low-risk rental properties. Plus, we’ll share when it’s a better use of your money to reinvest in your current properties vs. going out and buying new ones!

In This Episode We Cover:

What makes a “good” real estate deal in 2025 and beyond

The massive return James is making with house flipping (and the HUGE risks he takes)

Garrett’s unique short-term rentals pulling in twenty percent (or higher!) average returns 

IRR (internal rate of return) explained and why everyone should calculate this when investing

When to buy more properties vs. reinvest back into your performing portfolio

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Join BiggerPockets for FREE

Let Us Know What You Thought of the Show!

Get a Quote on Your Next Short-Term Rental Loan with Host Financial

Calculate IRR with Dave’s Book, “Real Estate by the Numbers”

Property Manager Finder

What's a "Good" Deal in Real Estate? 5 Criteria to Consider

Connect with Garrett

Connect with James

Connect with Dave



(00:00) Intro

(00:51) What's a "Good" Return?

(06:21) IRR (Internal Rate of Return) Explained

(07:59) What Makes a "Good" STR Deal?