Chad Ackerman Real Estate

"I couldn't figure out how to scale and stay in my W2 — until I discovered passive investing."

That line came out in a conversation I had recently with Jonathan and Storm on REdirect, and it captures something I spent years trying to articulate.

We went deep on what actually drives outcomes for limited partners. Not the surface-level stuff — the real framework behind good LP decisions:
→ Build your buy box before you look at a single deal
→ Always bet on the jockey, not the horse
→ What an operator's communication style reveals about their integrity
→ Why community intelligence beats solo due diligence every single time

If you're a W2 professional who's been curious about passive real estate but hasn't known where to actually start — this one's worth your time.

Full episode on YouTube 👇
https://zurl.co/qTp8D

Chad Ackerman: How Busy Professionals Can Build Wealth Through Passive Real Estate What if financial freedom didn’t require fixing toilets or flipping...

I hear this all the time.

People aren’t afraid of investing—they’re unsure where to start.

Education turns confusion into clarity, and clarity makes action feel possible.

Getting started doesn’t mean investing right away.

It means learning the language, understanding your options, and gaining clarity.

That’s how confidence—and progress—begin.

Chasing deals before understanding the basics creates unnecessary risk.

Education gives you context, confidence, and a better way to evaluate opportunities when they come.

Like most people, I had no idea where to start when I first looked into passive real estate investing.

Information was scattered. Resources were just sales funnels. So I spent 2 to 3 years researching before I ever made a move.

It worked — but it took way longer than it should have.

That's exactly why I built the CARE Learning Journey.

To give you a head start, I posted the first lesson on my offer page.

10 minutes. No strings. Just a clear breakdown of how passive real estate investing works.

Link in the comments

Passive investing isn’t about quitting your job or starting over.

It’s about learning how to build income alongside the career you already have—without taking on another full-time role.

Six years ago this week, a small group of us planned the first meeting of Left Field Investors.

The date was March 18, 2020.

Of course, the world had other plans. The pandemic shut everything down before we ever had the chance to meet in person.

But the idea was already in motion.

At the time, I had just fallen in love with the idea of passive real estate investing. When Jim Pfeifer asked if I wanted to help start something called Left Field Investors, the truth is… I didn’t fully know what I was signing up for.

But I knew two things:

• I respected Jim and wanted to work with him
• I believed I would grow faster learning alongside other investors

So I said yes.

What followed was an incredible journey alongside Jim Pfeifer, Ryan Stieg, Pat Wills, Steve Suh, and Sean Donnelly. Together we built a community where investors could learn from each other, ask questions openly, and grow faster than they could alone.

Eventually that journey led to the sale of LFI to BiggerPockets, where it evolved into PassivePockets, which continues to be a fantastic place for passive investors to connect and learn.

That experience shaped how I think about investing—and it’s a big reason I built CARE.

Today my focus is helping new investors build the education and confidence they need before they invest.

Because the truth is simple:

Education builds clarity.
Community builds perspective.

And when the two come together, investors grow faster.

I wrote a short reflection on the LFI anniversary and how it led to what I’m building with CARE today.

Check out the blog I wrote about our experience in the posts below.

I didn't either. And that's exactly the point.

I spent years in a W2 career feeling like something was missing — not because I was failing, but because I couldn't see a path beyond what I was already doing.

Passive investing wasn't something anyone around me talked about. I had to find it myself. And when I did, I started from zero.

Confidence isn't where you start. It's what you build.

That's why I created CARE.

Everyone starts somewhere. Link in the comments.

A lot of people follow me for real estate education.

But I've realized something — many of you don't know there's a place to go deeper.

I created the CARE Learning Journey for busy professionals who are curious about passive real estate investing but don't know where to start.

It's a self-guided online program. No calls. No sales pitch. Just 25+ masterclasses, 15+ guided workbooks, and clear, structured education at your pace.

You'll learn how deals work, how to evaluate sponsors, and how to take your first confident steps — before writing a single check.

There's even a FREE sample lesson so you can experience it before deciding anything.

If you've been wanting to understand passive real estate investing — this is exactly what I built it for.

Link in comments below.