If you’re thinking about getting into real estate, you might be wondering how you can become a millionaire through real estate investing. The great thing about real estate is that almost anyone can use it as an investment tool. And if you’re persistent enough, you can use it to become wealthy without having to wait a long time to get results.
Because real estate is a tangible asset that will always be needed, you can always finance your investments and grow your wealth with “someone else’s money.” Real estate investing also comes with a number of tax benefits, which will allow you to keep more of what you make. All of these advantages make it easier to become a millionaire than any other type of investment.
Here are some tips on how you can become a millionaire real estate investor.
#1: Learn About Real Estate Investing
Before you can get into real estate investing, you need to learn as much as you can about the types of investments and strategies in real estate. Learn about what’s involved in property management, how taxes work, and what you need to do to get access to financing. You also need to learn about the four wealth generators in real estate and how you can profit from each one.
These include:
- Cash flow
- Tax savings
- Equity
- Appreciation
Knowing how each of them work will help you to maximize your profits. There are a lot of books and resources you can look at that will help you learn about real estate investing as well. It’s also a good idea to get advice from other people who have been able to do it successfully. And if you can find someone to mentor you, it would be even better.
#2: Set Clear Goals and Have a Plan
Once you know about all the different strategies in real estate investing, you need to set your goals and come up with a plan. Once you set them, you need to take it a step further by saying that you want to buy real estate for the purpose of becoming a millionaire. Make sure you write down the following:
- What you want.
- Why you want it.
- What your life will look like once you have it.
- What date you want to reach your goals.
- How you’re going to do it.
Your goals also need to be broken down into different milestones. Make smaller goals that you want to achieve in the short term so you can get closer to reaching your big goals in the long term, and make a decision about what you need to do every day as you move closer.
Like any other business, you need to have a plan before you can start investing in real estate. But what works for you will depend on your current situation. If you’re starting out with little or no money, your approach will be different than if you already have enough capital to buy an apartment building.
#3: Stop Waiting to Get Started
Most real estate investors fail before they get started, because they never take that first step. Once you have a plan, you need to commit yourself to taking action by looking for properties. It’s easy to get stuck in the planning stage and to get hung up on all the details, but it won’t get you any closer to getting your first deal. You need to ask yourself what you’re doing today that will get you closer to becoming a millionaire in real estate.
#4: Make Offers with Terms You Can Afford
Think about what kind of deal you can make today with the money you have now. Do you need to finance a portion of your down payment? You may even need someone to help you get a land contract. Whatever it may be, you need to start making deals that you can afford. But remember that it’s all about persistence. If you make enough offers, someone will eventually accept.
If you’re starting out with little or no money, you might be able to find a lender that’s flexible enough to loan you the money so you can get a deal done. A lot of banks won’t allow you to finance any part of the down payment, and the ones that do will limit the amount they’re willing to finance. Hard money lenders don’t ask as much about where the down payment is coming from if they can secure the loan with a first-position mortgage, but they will typically have a higher interest rate.
#5: Generate Cash Flow
Your properties should be generating positive cash flow after you have covered your expenses and debt. That way, the cash flow from these properties will continue to pay down the debt and build equity while giving you a monthly income. As your portfolio grows, so will your income. And every month, you will get closer to becoming a real estate millionaire.
Appreciation can be unpredictable – that is, unless you can force it by getting it to generate more cash flow. Having that monthly income is the only way to be sure you can make a profit from your real estate deal.
#6: Grow Your Portfolio
If you want to become a millionaire from real estate investing, you will need to buy more properties. And they need to have multiple units. According to Grant Cardone (who is the founder and CEO of Cardone Capital), “All real estate is not created equally. Anyone who thinks they can become a millionaire simply by single-family homes will be greatly disappointed.”
Residential real estate is the easiest and most affordable way to get started. But if you want to become a millionaire, it will take more cash flow than what can be generated from rental properties. That’s why you need to grow beyond that first rental property.
Cardone also said, “The number of units is the most important number in real estate. Do the math; it’s much easier to buy one property where there are 32 units. Increase the rent $125, and you add $1 million in value and do so while getting the cash flow while you wait.” He also said that the number of units and the quality of the property are more important than the price.
#7: Work Up to Larger Properties
The wealthiest real estate investors prefer to buy commercial real estate, because they will generate the most income. A 5% increase in value on a property that’s worth $1 million will make a lot more money than a 5% increase in the value of a residential property.
One of the biggest tax advantages to real estate investing is that you can defer capital gains tax whenever you sell a property for the purpose of buying a new one. This is called a “1031 exchange.” There are a number of rules you have to follow when doing this kind of deal, but the tax savings will give you more money you can use toward the purchase of more profitable properties.
You can also refinance your properties once you have built equity, and you can use the cash flow to make a down payment on another property. If you do it the right way, it’s a strategy that you can use repeatedly as your portfolio grows.
#8: Keep Growing
Once you buy one property, the cash flow and equity you’ll earn from it will make it easier to buy another one. And buying the second one will make it easier to buy a third one. This pattern can continue as you buy more real estate. The larger your portfolio, the more protection you’ll have from the losses you’ll experience from certain deals.
#9: Stick to What You Already Know
As you look for an investment strategy that works for you, be careful about going into different markets and deals. Too many investors have lost a lot of money by taking on a lot of risk on a deal that was in unfamiliar territory.
Part of growing is stepping outside your comfort zone, but it doesn’t mean you should do it blindly. Once you have figured out how you can become a millionaire from real estate investing, your success will come from the knowledge you have gained in the process. And learning as much as you can before you jump into a new kind of investment will minimize your risk going in.
Final Thoughts
Becoming a millionaire from real estate investing isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem, but it’s not an easy goal to reach. You shouldn’t expect it to happen overnight, but it is achievable. If you have the right knowledge, develop a plan, and be persistent enough, you can become a millionaire real estate investor.
If you would like to know more about real estate investing and how you can use it build wealth, be sure to get in touch with Trevor Shakiba at Shakiba Capital.
