Finding deals
The Hub Strategy: How to Find Rental Deals in Any U.S. Market
How I grew from one 25-unit building to 600+ units by choosing a hub market, expanding nearby, and keeping a consistent flow of offers.
I'm standing at a 25-unit property in Stephenville, Texas that started a 180-plus-unit portfolio. I've done the same thing in Abilene, Texas, and in Washington State in Moses Lake and Mason County. Red states, blue states, big cities, small towns: the model works in all of them, because it isn't about picking the "right" city. It's about picking a hub, taking it out, and then expanding in a disciplined radius.
Most investors struggle for one of two opposite reasons. Either they chase properties all over the country and end up with a disjointed business that's impossible to scale, or they lock onto one tiny submarket and sit there for years waiting for a deal that never comes. The method below fixes both problems, and it's exactly how I got to over 600 units with what amounts to a very lucrative part-time job.
Start with a radius, not a city
When I moved from Washington State to Dallas, I had to figure out where to buy.
If you're trying to buy in major cities, it's really hard. There's a ton of competition. The big outside companies want to dump enormous amounts of money there. It's rare to find a deal that makes sense unless you're fixing a major problem, and fixing major problems is usually not where you want to start.
So I did something simpler: I drew a two-and-a-half-hour driving radius around DFW.
That's the threshold I want: close enough for a relatively easy drive. On the map, that radius is huge. To the east it goes out a little past Tyler, Texas. To the west it reaches about as far as Abilene. North and south, same thing. Inside that circle are dozens of submarkets, and any one of them can support a portfolio.
Related reading: Can't Find Deals in Your Market? Expand the Radius, Not the Map
The radius is the search area. Now you pick the first hub inside it.
Picking the first hub: Waco
Of all the cities in that radius, I started with Waco.
Why Waco? Consistent population growth, and my little sister went to school there. That second reason sounds unserious, but familiarity is a real advantage: I'd been there, I knew the area, and it has excellent fundamentals. Good enough to start.
We went under contract on a major deal in Waco. Then we got down there and found the foundation was absolutely destroyed. That was not a project we were equipped to do, so we cancelled the contract. I found some other opportunities in Waco, but nothing that screamed we need to buy this.
This is exactly where most people get stuck. They go, "I decided on this submarket, and now I'm stuck. I'm not finding deals." They either quit or they wait.
You don't do either. You start going out in a radius from that area.
Stephenville: what a good small market looks like
Working out from Waco, I ended up about an hour and a half from DFW and about an hour and a half from Waco, in a little town called Stephenville.
Here's what I'm looking for when I scan those in-between towns. I don't want a town of a thousand people. Stephenville is 25,000. You can usually spot the right ones on a map because there are a bunch of different roads feeding into them. Those little central nodes are where the opportunity tends to be.
We chose Stephenville, and I found a seller-financed 25-unit building. Right after I closed that one, the 26-unit next door came available.
That's the pattern. You close the deal, and then you focus on that market. You say: okay, now I'm going to clean up everything here that can be cleaned up.
Take the market out before you move on
After closing, I call the property neighbors. "Hey, I'm your new property neighbor, I'd love to get coffee." That's it. You build the relationships and then you wait for the market to hand you what it has.
Over the course of a year and a half, we bought four deals in Stephenville:
- a 76-unit
- a 44-unit
- the 25-unit
- the 26-unit
There were a few odds-and-ends properties added on, but those four were the major set pieces that established us in that market. Each one came with its own little office. We were able to set up our property management, our systems, and our contractors. We now have an independent business for the Stephenville market. It's perfect.
And right now there's nothing else in Stephenville that I know of that I want to buy. There are things I'll buy in the future, but nobody's ready to sell today. We cleaned up what was available in that town at that time.
So what do you do next? The same thing. Run the little radius out again.
Abilene: the next hub
I checked Granbury. We checked Weatherford. We checked Dublin: almost did a deal in Dublin. Where I ended up, one more time, was about an hour and a half out, in the city of Abilene.
Abilene is a genuinely interesting market. They're building the Stargate project there, the $500 billion data center. But there's a ton of other business out there too: three colleges and military bases. And conveniently, it sits on the very outer edge of my two-and-a-half-hour driving radius from where I live.
We go into Abilene and the first deal that comes up is 144 units: the biggest I've ever taken down. It was an amazing deal at $8.5 million, built in the 2000s. We closed it. Six blocks down the street there was an 80-unit 55-plus community, one of my favorites, and we snagged it. Then another 80-unit 55-plus community came available right after that, and I'm under contract for it right now.
Abilene is about a 180,000-person market. Stephenville is more like 50,000 people. Abilene is a much bigger market, which means there's a lot more to clean up. We should be over 500 units in Abilene over the next two years.
Where we're going next
The current project isn't under contract yet (we're under LOI) but there are two deals over in Longview, Texas that would be a little over 300 rental units. There's a lot of opportunity there. Longview is about an 85,000-person market, and it sits in that same roughly two-and-a-half-hour radius.
Related reading: How I Find the Best Rental Property Markets in Under 10 Minutes
That's the next major town we plan on taking out. Will I definitely buy there? I don't know. I'm also looking at Tyler, Texas. It's not for sure: we're under a letter of intent and there's a lot of due diligence to do.
But that's the process, over and over. You close in a market, you take that market out, you build your systems and your contractors, and then you step out again.
The daily activity that keeps deals flowing
None of this works without consistent activity, and the amount of activity required is smaller than people expect.
For me, the goal is getting to a point where I can write one offer each week. I'm not trying to shotgun this. I don't want a grindy job.
So I'm doing one or two broker calls every single day, until I feel like I know what the seller really wants in order to get the deal done. If I have a 33% chance or higher of getting my offer accepted, I'll go ahead and write the offer. If it needs more negotiation, I'll write a letter of intent instead.
That's all the activity you need to build hundreds of units. Twenty minutes a day.
Key takeaways
- Draw a two-and-a-half-hour driving radius around a major metro and hunt inside it. Major cities themselves are too competitive to start in.
- Pick one hub and commit to it, but don't get stuck: if the market doesn't produce, expand outward in a radius from there.
- Look for towns with real population, not a thousand people. Central nodes with multiple roads feeding in tend to hold the opportunity.
- After you close, call your property neighbors and get coffee. That's how the next three deals show up.
- Take a market out completely (build the management, the systems, the contractors) before you open a new hub. Going everywhere at once creates a business you can't scale.
- One or two broker calls a day, one offer a week, at a 33%-or-better chance of acceptance. That's the whole engine.
Watch the full walkthrough
In the video I pull up the actual map and trace the radius from DFW through Waco, Stephenville, Abilene, and Longview, so you can see how the hubs stack up geographically. If you want to go deeper on how these deals get financed, "The Book on Creative Real Estate" covers the structures I use. Our free multifamily training is at multifamilystrategy.com, and the free community comes with a deal calculator. There's also a short strategy video in the description for anyone considering mentorship.
Choose your hub, expand slowly, and make a few calls every day to keep the momentum going. I've done it in Washington State and I've done it in Texas: over 600 units today, and much closer to a thousand by the end of the year.
Read the episode transcript
0:00 Hey, it's Christian. I'm at a 25 unit 0:02 property that started a 180 plus unit 0:05 portfolio here in Stevenville. And I've 0:06 done the same thing in Abene, Texas, in 0:08 Washington State in Moses Lake and in 0:10 Mason County. How do you do this model 0:12 and why does it work in red states, blue 0:14 states, big cities, small states? I'm 0:15 going to show you exactly how I did it. 0:16 Here is the property that started it in 0:18 Stevenville, Texas. So, I'm going to go 0:19 to a map of properties in my studio. I'm 0:21 going to show you exactly how you choose 0:23 the market, how you expand, and the 0:26 activities that you need to take to 0:27 consistently every time find hundreds of 0:30 units of opportunities in any market in 0:32 the country. This is exactly what I did. 0:34 And welcome back to the studio, guys. 0:37 I'm going to show you exactly how to do 0:38 this. I've done this in multiple 0:40 markets. I've done Washington State, 0:41 done it in Texas. This is how it usually 0:43 works. If you want to build a large 0:45 portfolio, you need to choose individual 0:47 hubs. But don't get stuck there. I'm 0:49 going to show you exactly what this 0:49 looks like with the powers of screen 0:51 share. So, when I moved from Washington 0:53 states to Dallas, I was looking at where 0:55 to buy. And if you're trying to buy in 0:56 major cities, it's really hard. There's 0:58 a ton of competition. Your big outside 1:00 companies want to try to dump tons of 1:02 money here. It's rare to find a deal 1:04 that makes sense unless you're fixing a 1:06 major problem, which is usually not 1:07 where you want to start. Now, if you 1:09 expand a radius around a city, you can 1:11 choose all these different subm markets. 1:13 Now, in my opinion, I want to get there 1:15 with a relatively easy drive. So, I drew 1:17 a 2 and 1 half hour radius driving 1:19 around DFW. Now, if you look on the map 1:22 here on my screen, that's a huge radius 1:25 that goes out to a little past Tyler, 1:28 Texas, which is over here on the east uh 1:32 to the west. You can go out about as far 1:35 as Abene. This is about that 2 and a 1:37 half hour threshold. And you do the same 1:39 things north and south. In fact, that's 1:41 what I did of all the cities I wanted to 1:43 start in. I started in the city of Waco, 1:46 Texas. Now, why Waco? Consistent 1:49 population growth and my little sister 1:52 went to school there. So, I had the 1:53 little advantage of, okay, I'm familiar 1:55 with the area. I've been there. It has 1:56 excellent fundamentals. I'm going to 1:57 start there. So, I move over here to the 2:01 DFW area. We go to Waco. I look at Waco 2:04 and we actually go under contract for a 2:06 major deal in Waco. We get down there 2:08 and turns out the foundation was 2:10 absolutely destroyed. there was not a 2:12 project that we were equipped to do. So, 2:13 we went ahead and cancelled the 2:15 contract. Now, I found some other 2:17 opportunities in Waco, but nothing that 2:19 screamed we need to buy this. Where a 2:21 lot of people get stuck is they go, 2:22 "Hey, I decided this subm market and I'm 2:24 just stuck. I'm not finding deals." All 2:26 you do is you start going out in a 2:28 radius from that area. Where I ended up 2:31 was about an hour and a half out of DFW 2:33 and about an hour and a half out of Waco 2:35 in a little town called Stevenville. So, 2:37 I was just looking around the general 2:39 areas. You're looking for these higher 2:41 population. I don't want like a town of 2:43 a thousand people, but Stevenville's 2:45 25,000. You can usually tell because 2:46 there's a bunch of different roads going 2:47 into it. It's these little central nodes 2:50 is usually where you're looking for 2:51 opportunity. So, we choose Stevenville. 2:54 I find a seller financed 25 unit 2:56 building. And then next door, right 2:58 after I close that, a 26 unit. So, what 3:00 you do is you close the deal and then 3:01 you focus on that market. You say, 3:03 "Okay, now I'm going to clean up 3:04 everything that could be cleaned up 3:05 here." You call the property neighbors 3:07 after you close and let them know, "Hey, 3:08 I'm your new property neighbor. would 3:10 love to get coffee. You build the 3:11 relationships and over the course of a 3:13 year and a half, we bought four deals in 3:15 Stevenville, a 76 unit, a 44 unit, the 3:18 25, and the 26. We put together a nice 3:20 little portfolio. There's a few little 3:22 odds and ends properties that we added 3:23 to that, but those are the major set 3:25 pieces that we did establishing in that 3:27 market. Each one came with their own 3:28 little office. We're able to set up our 3:30 property management, our systems, our 3:32 contractors. We now have an independent 3:34 business for the Stevenville market. 3:36 It's perfect. There's nothing else right 3:39 now available in Stevenville that I know 3:41 that I want to buy. There's things that 3:42 I'll buy in the future, but no one's 3:44 ready to sell right now. We cleaned up 3:46 what was available in that town to be 3:48 cleaned up at that time. So, what do you 3:50 do next? Same thing. Do the little 3:52 radius out. I checked Granberry. We 3:54 checked Weatherford. We checked Dublin. 3:56 Almost did a deal in Dublin. Where I 3:58 actually ended up one more time was 4:02 about an hour and a half out in the city 4:04 of Abene. This is where they're building 4:06 the Stargate project, the $500 billion 4:09 data center. There's a ton of other 4:10 business out there, though. Three 4:11 colleges, military bays. Abene's really 4:14 cool. And conveniently, the very outer 4:16 edge of my 2 and 1 half hour driving 4:18 radius from where I live. We go into 4:21 Abene and the first deal that comes up 4:22 is 144 units, biggest I've ever taken 4:25 out. And it was an amazing deal. $8.5 4:27 million, built in the 2000s. We closed 4:30 that deal six blocks down the street. 80 4:34 unit 55 plus community. One of my 4:36 favorite 4:37 snagged it. Then there's another 80 unit 4:40 55 plus community that comes available 4:42 right after that. I'm under contract for 4:44 it right now. Abene is about 180,000 4:46 person market. Stevenville's like 50,000 4:49 people. Abene is a much bigger market. 4:52 There's a lot more to clean up. We 4:53 should be over 500 units in Abalene over 4:56 the course of the next 2 years. The 4:58 current project, we're not under 4:59 contract yet. We're under LOI, but 5:01 there's two deals over in Long View, 5:03 Texas. It'll be a little over 300 rental 5:05 units. There's a lot of opportunity over 5:06 there. It's about an 85,000 person 5:09 market for Long View. It's that same 5:12 roughly 2 and 1 half hour radius. 5:15 This is the next major town that we plan 5:18 on taking out. Now, will I definitely 5:20 buy there? I don't know. And I'm also 5:21 looking at Tyler, Texas. It's not for 5:23 sure. We're under a letter of intent. 5:25 There's a lot of due diligence to do, 5:27 but as you're doing this, this is how 5:28 you choose your hubs. You close in a 5:30 market, you take out that market, build 5:32 your systems, your contractors. When you 5:34 try to go everywhere all at once, you 5:36 end up with a disjointed business that's 5:37 almost impossible to scale. And if you 5:39 hyperfocus on a little teeny area for 5:41 too long, you might take years to find a 5:44 deal. This simple method of choose a 5:46 hub, slowly expand out, just keep doing 5:49 the activities that you need to keep 5:51 deals flowing. For me, that's getting to 5:53 a point where I can write one offer each 5:55 week. I'm not trying to shotgun this. I 5:57 don't want a grindy job. I'm doing one 6:00 or two broker calls every single day 6:02 till I feel like I know what the seller 6:04 really wants to get it done. If I have a 6:06 33% chance or higher of getting my offer 6:08 accepted, I'll go ahead and write the 6:10 offer or if it needs more negotiation, a 6:12 letter of intent. That's all the 6:14 activity that you need to build hundreds 6:15 of units. I've done this in Washington 6:17 state. I've done this in Texas. I have 6:18 over 600 units today. by the end of the 6:20 year will be much closer to a thousand. 6:22 And it's done exactly this method. 20 6:25 minutes a day, choose your hub, slowly 6:27 expand, make sure you're always just 6:30 making a few calls a day to get the 6:32 momentum going, and you have one of the 6:34 most lucrative part-time jobs you could 6:36 ever have.
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