Episode 569: How to Turn $3,000 Into a Seven Figure Return featuring Chris Larsen

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Larsen, founder of Next-Level Income and someone with over 20 years and nearly three decades in real estate. What I love about Chris's story is where it started: he bought his first rental property at age 21, while he was still a college student at Virginia Tech studying biomechanical engineering. From there he has been involved in around $2 billion in acquisitions across development, private lending, distressed debt, commercial offices, and multifamily syndication. Before real estate, Chris was chasing a very different dream. He was a competitive cyclist with hopes of going pro, until the sudden loss of his best friend at a bike race forced him to ask what he was really doing it all for. That moment set him on a search for financial freedom, and after five years of reading everything he could get his hands on, he landed on real estate as his path. He walks us through the mindset shift from day trading and stress to building something with control, leverage, income, and long term certainty. We get practical about why now is a great time for W-2 earners to move off the sidelines. Chris shares the story of his very first deal, $3,000 down on a townhouse that he house hacked with two roommates, and how a 1031 exchange years later turned that tiny investment into a seven figure return. He is a big believer that real estate is a get rich slow game, and he makes the case for doing even one creative deal a year and letting time, rents, and inflation do the heavy lifting. We also dig into where we are in the real estate cycle. Chris breaks down the roughly 18.5 year cycle, why he thinks we are in the second half where it pays to be the bank, and why keeping some dry powder on the sidelines makes sense right now. Toward the end he shares the two free tools his team built, an interactive book and a Chris Larsen AI coaching assistant, for anyone who wants to go deeper. If you have been waiting for a sign to start building passive income, this conversation is it. Key Talking Points of the Episode 00:00 Introduction and the three paydays philosophy 00:23 Meet Chris Larsen: 20+ years and roughly $2 billion in acquisitions 00:52 Buying his first rental at 21 as a college student 02:32 Why he wrote his latest book to help people engineer freedom 03:04 Starting a nonprofit after Hurricane Helene hit Asheville 03:52 The cyclist dream and why pro cycling rarely pays 04:51 Losing his best friend at a bike race and the emptiness that followed 06:35 The discipline and structure cycling taught him 06:51 Deciding he wanted to live life on his own terms 07:48 From day trading stress to realizing that is not investing 08:46 Why real estate: control, leverage, income, and depreciation 09:37 The 15 year plan to reach ten grand a month in income 09:52 Why creative deals beat the old way of getting paid once 12:05 What Chris is working on now and his latest book 12:48 Moving from residential to commercial and multifamily 14:13 Why now is a great time for W-2 earners to get in 15:20 Real estate as a get rich slow game and the one deal a year approach 16:02 The $3,000 first deal that became a seven figure return through a 1031 17:55 The 18.5 year real estate cycle explained 20:09 Why it is a good time to be the bank 20:31 Keeping cash on the sidelines and staying selective 21:43 The two free tools: the interactive book and Chris Larsen AI 22:42 How high income earners can start investing passively 23:20 Why finding someone who made the mistake first shortens your curve Quotables "Real estate is a get rich slow game." "During the second half of the cycle, it's a great time to be the bank." "You don't have to time the market, but be very selective right now." Links Chris Larsen — Next Level Income (his education and investment company) — https://nextlevelincome.com Free Book, How to Be Financially Free by Forty (interactive, includes online course access) — https://nextlevelincome.com/financialfreedombook Chris Larsen AI (24/7 coaching assistant built from Chris's books, content, and podcasts, via Next Level Income) — https://nextlevelincome.com 3 Paydays® Live https://3paydayslive.com/podcast Free Discovery Call https://smartrealestatecoachpodcast.com/discovery 3 Paydays® System Mastery Course - Use coupon code for 50% off https://smartrealestatecoach.com/qls Coupon code: pod Apprentice Program http://3paydaysapprentice.com/Podcast Masterclass https://smartrealestatecoach.com/masterspodcast 3 Paydays Books https://3paydaysbooks.com/podcast Partners https://smartrealestatecoach.com/podcastresources