How to Make 3% More Rent Automatically (Takes 5 Minutes) (Rookie Reply)

BiggerPockets Blog
Published: October 24, 2025
Pricing & Profitability

Summary

This article discusses how hosts can maximize interest earned on their rental income by using high-yield savings accounts or banking platforms like Base Lane and Relay Financial. It also touches on deal finding challenges in the Chicago market and provides insights into evaluating offers and market conditions.

Key Insights

  • High-yield savings accounts typically offer significantly better interest rates than traditional accounts; current rates are around 3% or slightly above.
  • Traditional checking accounts often earn very little interest (e.g., 0.001%), leading to a loss in value due to inflation.

Action Items

  • Check if your bank offers cash bonuses for switching accounts and analyze which bank offers the best rewards.
    Effort: medium
    Impact: medium
  • Consider switching to a high-yield savings account or a real estate-focused banking platform like Base Lane or Relay Financial to maximize interest earned on your rental income.
    Effort: low
    Impact: medium
  • Evaluate if a CD (Certificate of Deposit) is right for you, or if a high yield savings account is better suited for your cashflow needs.
    Effort: low
    Impact: medium

Tools & Resources

  • Base Lane: Base Lane is mentioned as a banking platform built for real estate investors that offers high yield savings accounts and automated bookkeeping.
  • Relay Financial: Relay Financial is mentioned as a platform that offers strong interest on savings accounts and is built for implementing Profit First.

Common Mistakes

  • Locking funds into a CD if those funds may need to be readily available for operational needs.
  • Keeping rental income in a standard checking account that doesn't earn interest will lead to your money losing value every year.

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