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Career Resources
Marry extremely rich then use the family capital
Be born into a wealthy family with an extensive network. Go to a private school and then a top target school to continue this network. Join an IB firm or something similar to get the required 'prestige' experience. Go on to join a global elite REPE for 5-10 years to get experience and then leverage your network to start a fund/real estate empire in your field.
If you didn't do the above my suggestion would be to aim lower and be happy. You don't need a real estate empire and honestly the only people that can pull this off tend to be the most 'elite' people anyway.
My dream is to land a few deals and maybe an operational asset or two. Gain GP promote on my deals by being a great real estate professional and then focus on managing my operational assets as a retirement plan. Build them up to stabilised, cash flowing assets that I can either pass down to my children or sell in later life. Of course you'd be investing in your pension and other investments along the way which would be a sizeable sum. Side note, people act on here like $150k-200k is not a lot of money which is literally insane. You can easily save/invest and live a great life without ever taking the 'risk' of going out on your own. Either way, you're looking at retiring in significant comfort and if you're not from the background mentioned above maybe you can give your children that option.
Ultimately, Real Estate is a fantastic asset class and such a fun place to have your career so just enjoy it for what it is. You earn great money, have a decent work life balance AND you always have the option of leveraging you skills and going out on your own. Win, win, win.
Fair take.
What would you consider good operational assets? Talking like a car wash or laundry spot or something else?
I'd do unspeakable things to own a car wash portfolio, business and re of course.
1. Buy or build one deal.
2. Use proceeds to buy or build 1-2 more deals.
3. Use proceeds to buy or build 3-4 more deals.
4. Use proceeds to buy or build 7-8 more deals.
5. Retire because "building an empire" is stupid. You are now rich. Go enjoy life.
Thanks,
Agreed, possibly the question should have been "what do you consider a real estate empire", some might need more than others in that sense.
Nah I hear you. I just think "building an empire" is something you care about in your 20s when you're starting out. Then you live life a little. When I'm 60 years old I don't want to be the real estate emperor of whatever city I'm in being gifted meaningless lifetime achievement awards by real estate organizations and getting cold emails from 20 year olds trying to start their own empire. I want to be rich, retired, and doing cool shit with people I care about.
RE empire for me is ~$250-350k/yr in "passive" income (yes, I understand all the pitfalls that come with using that word). Basically enough to be financially independent with a decent standard of living, I'm not trying to become a billionaire. Just a nice house, maybe a small vacation home, a few vacations a year and the flexibility to do what I want with my time.
Mind elaborating a bit more on how this works? Or pointing to some links, videos, YouTube etc that describes this in detail?
Only strategy I’ve seen around this is brrr
I mean, there are a lot of ways it could work. If I had to break down RE investing vs say stock investing (again down and dirty) stock investing there are many companies to invest in but not a lot of ways to invest in them (your own capital, borrow), RE investing there are many different verticals to invest in (technically, someone might debate me on this, again down and dirty) but there are a lot more ways to structure deals.
So, you can do a couple of BRRRs a year, or do some flips, or wholesale. Could also start by buying one property, building equity in it through as you rent it out. Then, you get another property, ether by saving up or accessing the equity in the first property, now you have two properties. You continue this and keeps compounding.
For example, say at 30 you buy a $100K property all cash. Say it nets $10K a year, if you save all that up by 40 you buy a second property, same payouts, you get a third property at 45. Now you have three, you get the fourth at about 49 years old. Now you're making $40k a year from 4 properties, in 2.5 years you can buy a 5th. You/re 51.5 years old at this point, you can get a 6th at 53.5. Now you're making $60k a year. As you keep compounding hopefully, you get to the point where you can get 1 property a year, and ultimately one property a month, if you want to do that. Lot of ways to go (leverage the assets, sell everything buy one bigger property), tons of examples, this is just one.
Buy and hold, use debt to scale over time.
..
The Grant Cardone method of overpaying for properties with syndicated dumb money
sell courses and do guest speaking gigs
LMAO these replies are fucking so god damn negative it is amazing.
The strategy is simple. Buy now sell in 30 years. The one strategy that works in any market cycle.
Assuming the question warrants a good faith answer (because my 'real' answer is the same as everyone else - do a couple deals, be set for life, no need to shoot for building a real estate "empire"), I'd be in the same exact industry I'm in right now.
Work for an affordable housing developer for a while, learn the ropes, learn the market, learn the people you need to know and how to get deals done. Starting your own affordable development shop from that position is actually pretty easy, and doesn't require a huge amount of capital or an extensive equity network. Building a reputation as a solid, dependable developer is really easy if you're not a total shitheel and you understand that real estate as an industry rewards people with a long term view and who value relationships over quick profits. Try and find a partner with experience on the construction side, and bring your own GC in-house (or at least have the capability to oversee other GCs as prime subs and fee off the back of that). There are so many ways to make money, and when you remove the market risk from the equation, you can find a lot of ways to profit at relatively low risk.
Mind you, none of this is rocket science. There are a bunch of state housing authorities that release financials from the developers they do business with as part of bond-related offering docs, and you can see, publicly, how many affordable housing developers have a net worth in the 9 or 10 figures, how many units they own, how big the companies are. From there, do what you want - some of the biggest names in real estate got their start as affordable developers/owners.
This is a great strategy, the primary issue is that almost no one has the patience for this anymore. Everyone wants to be attached to the flashy deals and I honestly understand why.
If you don't have the patience for this and want to be attached to the flashy deals I would recommend going to work at one of the big development shops that are working on those flashy deals but join their affordable group that works on structuring the affordable components of the big development deals. You can get much of what you described above while also getting some of that "shine" on the big projects.
But if you want to build a lifetime 9 figure bank account, forego the glamour and dive into the affordable stuff because it is hard to beat a nearly guarenteed rate of return with a near zero risk profile.
What states / regions would affordable developers build most easily? I'm assuming it's much more difficult to build around the nyc area than maybe elsewhere
Can you post a link or show where you can access the public documents?
I would also like to see this as well.
Assuming I have the knowledge/educational background that I have today and I just graduated college, but not the connections nor wealth I would
1.) Get as high of a paying job that I can get until i've saved ~$50k
2.) Buy a SFH with light renovation potential in the $500k-700k range using only 5% down (jumbo loans are $830k in my city, so I can buy up to roughly a $875k property). Slowly renovate the property as I live there (new kitchens, bathrooms, repaint, etc..). Live in property for at least 2 years to take advantage of tax free gains
3.) Sell SFH and ideally have saved at least $150k between job and SFH profits
4.) Buy a larger/more expensive property. Ideally 2-3 units that are in decently rentable condition, but have value add potential and as close to $875k as possible. Live in 1 unit and rent out the others. Renovate my own unit first, then the others as they turn. Live in building for at least 2 years to take advantage of tax free gains. Sell each unit as condos or sell the entire building fully leased up. With the right market and property, profit should be at least $300k
5.) Should have ~$500k saved by now. Ideally repeat step 4 one more time, but if not, buy a ~$500k-600k SFH for myself to live in longer term and search for another 2-3 unit property where I can make 2x-3x my equity on a gut renovation (this time it will be an investment property, so have to put down 20% down, but I can get 100% construction loan, but not more tax free gains.)
6.) Repeat step 5 over and over and slowly move on to larger projects/ground up/luxury SFH developments. If you want to grow really fast, raise some capital and pursue multiple properties a year
7.) Start entitling property. You can do this by buying a small project that has entitlement potential, or look for industrial properties (autoshops, etc..) in gentrifying markets and try to partner with the owner to entitle it. (Owner puts up the land, I put up the cost to entitle (~$100k))
8.) Continue all of these strategies until I have too much money and not enough development projects. and then start investing in stabilized properties so that my money still generates a decent return.
9.) Expand into other industries such as buying small businesses to further expand my empire
[EDIT] I messed up. The 5% down can only be used on your first property. So I would use it on the SFH and wait until I've saved ~$200k-$300k between the profits of the SFH and working. In order to save the 5% commission fee, I would try to sell the SFH without a broker first on some Facebook real estate group, craigslist etc...and using an agent as a last resort. Might have to repeat this strategy again to reach ~$200k-$300k. From here I could then jump to Step 4. Although I now need to put down 20%, I can get 100% of the construction loan financed by the bank (this all assumes you know your markets/product and know that the property will appraise to the values that you need). Also, once a unit has has been renovated and the lease on the other unit has expired, I would move into the other unit and lease up the newly renovated unit and then renovate the unit I just moved into to as I live in it. I may also consider just renovating both units at the same time if I am financially able to carry the project because that will speed things up rather than leasing out the unrenovated unit and waiting a year for the lease to expire.
Solid advice, well appreciated.
Nobody mentioned moving to an emerging city, region, country. If an empire (in 2023) is what I’m after, that’s what I’d do.
Because you'll have all the political and social connections, not to mention maybe linguistic acuity, to transact on exceedingly complex and (usually) highly regulated assets? All of this is assuming you can spot an "emerging market" while it is cheap.
Sure, move to Sao Paolo or something and buy assets at a much cheaper basis... but good luck out-competing people or businesses or families with generations of social, cultural, and political capital and goodwill built up
That’s why I mentioned city and region as well. Most people on here think too narrowly and want a comfortable life. That’s fine. Define empire vs real estate portfolio.
Country if you have an angle (wife from there, family from there, or just sees a huge wave and grabs their surfboard to ride it). I know a guy who did prop tech in the US and now is doing land development in Africa. 1st year might be rough, but 5 years in, you might be a leading expert with relationships and political capital. Path less travelled. Good luck.
City and region is more what folks on here are advocating. The US is kind of too mature to see the same Empire Building story play out ($75K house in the 1970’s, $1.5MM today), without thinking unconventional.
Building a real estate empire requires careful planning, strategic thinking, and a solid understanding of the market. While every individual's approach may vary, here's a general outline of how I would go about building a real estate empire today:
1. Define Your Strategy: Start by establishing a clear investment strategy. Determine the type of properties you want to focus on, such as residential, commercial, or a mix. Consider factors like location, rental potential, and market demand when selecting your target properties.
2. Research and Market Analysis: Conduct thorough research on the real estate market, both locally and nationally. Look for areas with strong growth potential, favorable economic conditions, and a stable housing market. Analyze market trends, vacancy rates, rental yields, and property appreciation to identify promising opportunities.
3. Network and Build Relationships: Network with real estate professionals, investors, and industry experts. Attend local real estate events, join investment groups, and engage in online communities to expand your network. Building relationships can provide valuable insights, potential partnerships, and access to off-market deals.
4. Financing Options: Assess various financing methods available to you. Explore traditional bank loans, private lenders, crowdfunding, or partnerships with other investors. Consider factors such as interest rates, terms, down payment requirements, and your risk tolerance when selecting the financing method that aligns with your goals.
5. Start Small and Scale: Begin by investing in smaller properties or multifamily units that offer good cash flow potential. This allows you to gain experience, build a track record, and secure a steady income stream. As you grow, reinvest your profits into larger properties or diversify into different real estate sectors.
6. Use Leverage and Creativity: Utilize leverage by leveraging other people's money (OPM) through creative financing strategies. This could involve seller financing, lease options, joint ventures, or partnerships. Be open to exploring unconventional methods to structure deals that maximize your returns and minimize risks.
7. Continual Learning and Adaptation: Real estate markets evolve, so it's crucial to stay updated and adapt your strategies accordingly. Continually educate yourself on market trends, legal regulations, tax implications, and innovative investment techniques. Surround yourself with mentors and experts who can guide you through the changing landscape.
Remember, building a real estate empire is a long-term endeavor that requires patience, perseverance, and a willingness to learn from both successes and failures. By carefully planning your investment strategy, conducting thorough research, leveraging financing options, and continuously adapting to market conditions, you can set yourself on a path to building a successful real estate empire.
Thanks, ChatGPT!
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