Let’s be honest—most guys our age are looking at retirement and wondering, ‘Did I do enough?’ You’ve worked your whole life, raised a family, and now you’re realizing that saving alone doesn’t cut it anymore.

Inflation eats your cash, and the market feels like a gamble. But what if you could use income from the property itself to buy real estate that pays you back every month? That’s the beauty of something called a DSCR loan—and it’s changing the game for regular folks like us.

A DSCR loan—short for Debt Service Coverage Ratio—is a fancy way of saying: the property qualifies for the loan, not you. Instead of digging into your personal income, the lender looks at how much rent the property brings in.

If the rent covers the payment with a little cushion—about 10 to 20 percent—you qualify. So if your mortgage payment is $1,000, the rent needs to be $1,100 to $1,200. That’s it. They call that a DSCR of 1.1 to 1.2. It’s an asset-based loan—and that’s why it’s so powerful.

Most people think they need to wait until they’re debt-free or making six figures to buy investment property. Not true. DSCR loans let you scale faster because each property’s income helps you qualify for the next one.

It’s a snowball effect—you buy one, rents rise, equity builds, and suddenly that property becomes the key to buying the next. It’s the closest thing to self-funding growth in real estate.

Let’s say you buy a fourplex where the rent barely covers the payment at first—1.1 DSCR. Over time, rents rise, and now your DSCR jumps to 1.5. That extra cash flow gives you room for a refinance. You pull some equity out—maybe $50,000—and use it to buy another property.

Do that three or four times over the next decade, and you’ve built a solid portfolio producing passive income for life.

I know what some of you are thinking—‘Sounds great, but where do I get the money for the first one?’ Here’s the thing: you don’t have to do it alone. You can partner with a friend, use funds from an old 401(k) or self-directed IRA, or even tap equity from your home.

The first property is always the hardest. After that, the properties start to fund each other. You just have to get that first door open.

One of my clients started with a single fourplex back in 2017. He was in his 40s—family man, hard worker, not some big-shot investor. But he learned how to use DSCR loans and the One Door at a Time mindset.

Today, he owns over 70 units. He built a six-figure income that grows with inflation and gives him huge tax breaks. His goal is to retire by 50—and he’s going to do it. That’s not a fantasy. That’s what’s possible when you use the right tools.