When we talk about successful rental property investing, it’s natural to focus on the numbers.

Those numbers matter. But there’s another question worth considering:

Is your portfolio helping you accomplish what matters most in your life right now?

And as your needs change, will your portfolio continue to serve those goals?

On last week’s Not Your Average Investor Show, Pablo spoke with Laura Kolbe, a mother of five who has acquired 11 rental properties in Jacksonville, with a portfolio report showing approximately $827,000 in total profits, including gains in property value.

Her experience offers a useful perspective on how the purpose of a rental portfolio can evolve alongside a family’s needs.

Let’s dive in.

The Family Behind the 11 Rentals

Every rental portfolio starts with a purpose, and that purpose can change as life does.

Laura and her husband bought their first rental in 2012. Laura was nine months pregnant when they closed! They wanted to build wealth while she stayed home to raise their children.

Five years later, their oldest needed a different school environment, and private school tuition was more than they could comfortably afford.

Laura called it their “tuition dollar problem.”

Their original rental had been bringing in income and growing in value. So they borrowed against some of the value they’d built up to purchase more rentals and generate income for tuition.

At that point, success had a practical meaning: the properties were helping pay for something their family needed.

Over time, that need changed. Laura began thinking about building wealth for later years and how to protect the properties along the way.

Her experience raises a useful question: How do we measure success when the job we need a portfolio to do keeps changing?

One Portfolio Can Serve Different Purposes

A rental portfolio can have different jobs at different stages of life. Laura’s decisions show what that can look like.

1. Cash Flow for Today

When tuition became a priority, Laura purchased additional rentals, including one with cash and others with mortgages. Monthly income had a specific purpose: helping pay the school bills.

2. Growth for Tomorrow

In 2020, the resident in Laura’s original rental offered to buy it! She sold the home and used a 1031 exchange to reinvest the proceeds into other rentals while deferring eligible taxes. With savings and financing, she eventually acquired 11 Jacksonville properties.

Her portfolio report showed about $827,000 in profits, including $489,000 from rising property values. That’s nearly 60% of the total.

But reported results need context. Laura later took out mortgages on most of the Jacksonville homes she’d bought with cash. She explained that the report overstated her actual rental income and understated her tax savings. Its reported 8.8% annualized return doesn’t capture every later decision – the returns are actually much better!

3. Protection for the Unexpected

One rental nearly burned down. Insurance covered rebuilding costs and lost rent, and the home was rebuilt in about six months. Laura still had to stay involved with the claim while her management team coordinated the work.

She also prefers keeping at least six months of mortgage payments, property taxes, and insurance costs in reserves for each property.

👉 What Happens When Your Rental Goals Change?

So how can that way of thinking help when looking at your own rentals?

Build Around the Life You’re Living

One benefit of a long term buy and hold approach is that a rental property can serve different purposes as your family’s needs change.

Rental income may help cover expenses today. Over time, mortgage payments can build equity, and property values may grow. That equity can eventually create opportunities to expand a portfolio or support other family goals.

But there’s another part of the plan to consider: how much does your family understand about the wealth you’re building?

Laura started bringing her five children into the rental business in simple ways:

• Ice cream and family meetings: Once a month, they discussed ideas from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. The older children read the book, while the younger ones joined the gatherings.
• A spring break trip: The family visited Jacksonville, met their portfolio manager, and saw a rental property that helped pay for their education.
• Small jobs for different ages: Her teenage son helps with spreadsheets and research. Her seven year old made name tags for family business meetings.

👉 How Laura Turned Rental Investing Into Family Time

Through these experiences, her children are learning about money, responsibility, and treating residents well. Even preparing name tags gives the youngest a way to participate.

And as those children grow, the rental properties can continue serving another purpose: helping them understand what it takes to build, manage, and care for family wealth.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE INSIGHT: Know What You’re Really Passing Down

👉 How Treating Residents Well Became a Family Lesson

Think back to the question we started with: Is your portfolio helping you accomplish what matters most right now?

Laura’s needs changed from paying tuition to building wealth over time, protecting her rentals, and helping her children understand the family business.

That invites a broader way to think about success. Income, appreciation, and property count are useful measures. But they don’t show the full role a portfolio can play in someone’s life.

For some families, that role may mean helping with expenses today. Later, it may involve preparing the next generation to make decisions about what the family owns.

The portfolio can be part of what we leave behind. The knowledge and values we share along the way can help the next generation care for it.

It’s worth considering both as our own goals and family circumstances evolve.

Just remember… Don’t Be Average.
Gregg Cohen
Co-Founder, JWB Real Estate Capital