How to Become a Millionaire Through Real Estate

Many people hear about how it’s possible to earn life-changing amounts of money in real estate and jump into it for a while and try things out only to burn out from the commitment and learning curve. Truth is, real estate is a lot of hard work. It’s a numbers game and it takes someone that’s a people’s person who enjoys networking and being in social environments. As Hellen Keller once said “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” So what does it take to become a millionaire in real estate?

1. 1. Set goals - First figure out what you want to accomplish with real estate. Are you looking to get cash fast or build wealth slowly over time? Do you enjoy designing layouts or dealing with tenants or maybe a combination of both or more? When you understand what your goals are, it gets easier to keep your focus on track.
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3. 2. Focus on one strategy - It’s difficult to stick to one thing when you’re trying something out and you hear others talk about their success in another investment strategy. It starts to sound really good and suddenly the grass looks greener over there. Then you give that other thing a try and maybe one more new thing and suddenly you are stacked with so much stuff that you can’t accomplish much in any one thing anymore. Stick to one thing and see it though until you’ve accumulated enough knowledge to try something new out.
5. 3. Take small steps - Real estate is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Don’t go buying multiple properties all at once and try managing without the experience of doing one at a time (like I did, oops!). A lot can be accomplished over a very short period of time if you give yourself the time to grow into it.
7. 4. Stay educated - Even people who I know that manage / own 900+ multifamily units still go to networking meetings with a humble attitude and an open mindset. They come to learn and still feel like students in this game. There are many ways to get a free or even low-budget education. One of the best ways to start is to check out Biggerpockets.com. Other ways are from youtube videos, podcasts and blogs like this one!
9. 5. Learn to use OPM (Responsibly) - What is OPM? “Other People’s Money”. This could be private investors like friends and family or banks and other lenders. Sure, you could buy houses with all cash, but how long will that take to save up the capital to do that? It’s important not to over-leverage yourself and get trapped in a bad situation, but many real estate strategies are actually done with little or *no money out of pocket. *No money by implementing creative strategies such as Lease Options or Subleasing.
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11. 6. Analyze the deals - Real estate is heavily based on deal analysis and spreadsheets and numbers. Thankfully, it’s usually simple things like addition/subtraction, multiplication/division and percentages for the most part. When you keep practicing at analyzing potential opportunities, you’ll get better at it. The better you get at it, the easier it will be to spot a good one from a bad one.
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13. 7. Build your team - Remember when they said that Rome wasn’t built in a day? Think of all of the magnificent skyscrapers around us whenever you visit a city and think about all the work it took to make that. Building a building has a lot of moving parts and as such, you can only accomplish so much on your own. To be successful, you need to surround yourself with a team of professionals that are real superstars in their field. Some notable people would be: Contractor, Real estate agent, Mortgage broker / lender, Property manager. These are just a few.

Take it from another student in life and in real estate; getting rich is simple but not easy. Simple if you consider how many people on the internet have shared tips on getting wealthy, but not easy if you consider that most people never take action or take action too late.

So, what's your reason for wanting to be a millionaire?