An investor turned a century-old house into a rental that cash flows $2,500 a month. He shares how he financed it with 5% down.

Part-time real estate investor Peter Keane-Rivera owns 19 units across three properties in the Seattle area. Courtesy of Peter Rivera Peter Keane-Rivera is a full-time engineer who invests in Seattle-area real estate. He bought a roughly 100-year-old home for $630,000 in 2024. He converted it from five to nine bedrooms. It now generates about $2,500 a month in profit. Peter Keane-Rivera has specific criteria when he shops for investment properties. The Seattle-based millennial, who supplements his engineering salary with rental income, looks for large homes — at least 3,000 square feet — with unfinished basements, which give him room to add value. His strategy is to buy and hold long-term rentals, then rent them out by the room. "The more rooms, the more cash flow," Keane-Rivera, who has 19 units across three properties, told Business Insider.