Rental Income Podcast With Dan Lane Building A Rental Portfolio While Working a Full-Time Job With Alana Kern (Ep 553)
Dec 23, 2025
Alana Kern, a dedicated real estate investor and landlord, balances building her rental portfolio while holding a nonprofit job. She shares her strategies for managing rentals in just ten hours a month using platforms like Apartments.com and Facebook Marketplace. Alana recounts a tough tenant experience that led to improved screening processes, emphasizing the importance of background and credit checks. She also reveals her goal to transition to full-time real estate, needing about $10,000 in monthly cash flow before making the leap.
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Building While Working Full-Time
- Alana self-manages a portfolio of a duplex, single-family, and two triplexes bought while working full-time.
- She spends about 10 hours a month on rentals when not renovating and sometimes more during turnovers.
Use Multiple Listing Channels
- Advertise vacancies on Apartments.com and supplement with Facebook Marketplace and word-of-mouth referrals.
- Use referrals for higher trust and quicker tenant vetting.
Costly Leniency With One Tenant
- Early leniency cost Alana: a tenant she vetted by vibe caused $3,000+ in damage and fleas.
- She moved him to month-to-month before ending tenancy and learned hard screening lessons.