An investor using real estate to retire early says his rents fell in 2026, but he still increased his profit by focusing on 3 expenses.

Brannon Potts owns a mixture of single-family and multi-family properties.

He builds and designs each of his rentals.

Courtey of Brannon Potts Brannon Potts uses a 'build-to-rent' strategy, designing and building each of his rentals.

The real estate strategy is setting him up for early retirement.

Recently, rents have fallen, but he's increased his profits by cutting major expenses.

Brannon Potts has watched rents soften in North Texas over the past few years.

"Especially in the last three years, rents have come down a little bit here," the Fort Worth-area real estate investor told Business Insider.

Potts attributes the decline partly to an influx of new rental supply.

"There's been multiple hundreds of new properties coming online in the last couple of years, so it's pushed down rents a little bit, even with the growth in the area," he said.

Still, "my overall profit has gone up." Potts, 54, started investing in real estate five years ago as part of a plan to create enough passive income to retire in his 50s.

As of mid-2026, he owns 14 units across eight properties, and plans to grow his portfolio to about 20 units.

Rather than buying existing rentals, he uses a build-to-rent strategy and constructs his own properties.

He documents the building process on his YouTube channel , where he also breaks down the numbers behind his investments.

Rather than relying on rising rents to improve his per-door profit, Potts has focused on reducing costs.