'I'm 34 Years Old And Own Eight Homes. Here's How I Did It'

With careful planning—and a lot of working weekends—you can do it too.

- Ian Salisbury

WHEN PAULA PANT was 27 years old, she and her future husband, Will, were paying $400 a month for a single bedroom in a triplex apartment building in Atlanta, sharing a kitchen and bathroom with three other roommates. Finally, they decided to buy a place of their own, taking about a year to cobble together the down payment. But a starter home was not in their future. Instead, they paid $225,000 for the apartment building across the street, which was almost identical to the one where they were already living. When they moved in, their roommates came too. The rent the couple collected was enough to cover their housing costs, enabling them to live for free.

“A lot of our friends were living in places with granite countertops,” says Pant. “All we were thinking about was being as frugal as possible.”

Seven years later the move has paid off. Pant (now 34) and Will (now 38) no longer live in that first apartment building. But they still own the three units—along with five other properties they have bought along the way.

Pant, who came to the U.S. from Kathmandu, Nepal, as an infant, says the properties provide her with enough extra income that she’s been willing to forgo the security of a nine-to-five job and pursue passion projects like her blog and podcast.