Long Term Rental Property Pros and Cons: The Wealth-Building Side

I’m Jay Bru. I’ve owned rental real estate for over 20 years and currently hold about 16 units—duplexes, a fourplex, and two Airbnbs.

Some days, I’m convinced I should’ve just bought the S&P 500. Less stress. Cleaner math. Possibly the same—or more—money. That’s the brutal truth about rentals: you don’t truly know your return until years later.

I’ve owned properties in four U.S. states and two countries, burned through six property managers, and dealt with everything from drugs and domestic violence to tenant deaths and lawsuits. Arizona stands up for Landlords—it’s one of the most landlord-friendly states. Canada did the opposite. Courts there often favor tenants, and sometimes walking away is cheaper than fighting.

I’ve self-managed, hired managers, and now run everything under one company—except my Airbnbs. One lesson is clear: rentals must be treated like a business. Most people don’t—and they pay for it.

Below are the real pros and cons of owning rental real estate for 20+ years. No hype. No sugarcoating. And in today’s Arizona market, cash flow is hard to find.

1. Mortgage Paydown: The Silent Wealth Builder

One of the most underrated benefits of long-term rentals is mortgage amortization.
Every month, tenants reduce your loan balance whether you feel rich or not.

Over 20 years, this creates massive equity with minimal effort.
It is slow, but incredibly powerful.

2. Forced Savings You Cannot Avoid

Most people struggle to save consistently.
Real estate forces discipline.

Each payment builds equity automatically.
This is one of the most reliable long-term rental property pros.

3. Appreciation Over Long Time Horizons

Real estate appreciation is not linear.
There will be flat years and painful corrections and with no appreciation like I have investing in a 15k population town, it may not be the right location.

But over 20+ years, well-located properties almost always rise in value.
Time, not timing, does the heavy lifting.

Tips:

Stick to large cities where there are a lot of jobs and inward migration like Phoenix AZ.

Smaller towns with no appreciation like Ohio for instance or north battleford SK where i invested, you typically get a cheap home with more cash flow.  So its a coin toss, but I’d still recommend staying in large cities.

4. Cash Flow: 

Live off your income from rentals: 

You need to have a min of $500 cash flow per month if everything is normal.  If you’re getting top rent, then only bad things can happen like a vacancy, roof repair, new AC, damage etc.  So the $500, should be enough cushion for you to be safe. 

The thought was, is to buy 5-10 rentals and you retire off of them.  Well, in todays world, everything is just so expensive, like life, real estate, AC’s, labour and in Arizona, very few homes cash flow here. In my experience, if it doesn’t cash flow, sell it.  You can always try airbnb or furnished rental, you can make more per month but its more work. You have to figure out where your money would be better off, maybe a 4% money market would work.