1 million $ net 5 years out of college in Real Estate

Let's fantasize here what it would take for fresh graduate to make 1 million net in Real Estate in 5 years after graduating.

The only way I see this happening is starting out in development, working long long hours (80+), having rich parents/uncle/close connections to get some capital and starting to do small side projects on the side.

What do you think?

24 Comments
 

I know a kid that did this. Actually, far, far better. But his dad is worth somewhere in the 10+ figure range. Helps to have a "job" working for your dad when you're 22 and put all of your income into real estate. Don't know anyone else, and brokerage, while it's likely the best option, isn't really feasible because you're 22.... I sincerely doubt you'll get there in 5 years in brokerage unless you're born into a network or get very, very(VERY) lucky.

 

One way to do it is timing. I've mentioned this before, but most people who have gotten wealthy in real estate, whether they will admit it or not, struck it rich because they got in on the right deal at the right time. In other words, good luck plays a nice role in success; then again, you have to have the courage to take the risk in the first place.

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If you had zero family connections and no money of any significance to put to work then I would say working as a commercial sales broker in a very busy but not highly populated shop where the average deal size is 15mm and eat, drink, sleep, talk real estate 24/7 (while keeping your daily life overhead low). And it would still be a very rough road with a high (read 80 percent ~) burnout rate. Some of these guys work Saturday and Sunday at a pay per hour job just to their own lights on and coffee on their desk. Brutal but true.

 
Best Response

Quitting your RE job, attending a coding academy for 12 months, spend 1-2 years developing an app/product, and then spending the next few years growing your business and raising capital so hopefully you get 1. bought out by a large player like Zillow, CoStar, Yardi, etc. OR 2. Generate enough NCF and EBITDA to become profitable.

Or be the best broker in your market at your age.

edit:

Or #3, move to a midwest/southern 2nd tier market and flip houses. You could start flipping $100-200k homes making $30-70k before tax profit on each deal, by the time you get to year 3-5 you could have 3-5 flips going annually. But honestly, at this time, 5 years out in 2022, if you have 3-5 flips going on and the residential market crashes (because it will downsize in the next 5 years), you're going to get crushed if you're highly levered. The residential market is market that anyone can get into. You don't need to be the best broker at Eastdil/CBRE/JLL/CW. You just need to be an agent (or have one), filter through dozens of shitty contractors, filter through 100's of homes on and off market, and connect with hard money lenders for 90-95% LTV loans.

 

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