Can you Get Rich Quick With Real Estate?

Can you get rich quick with real estate, and what does “quick” mean? Many of us dream of getting rich quick! We dream of hitting a big deal or an amazing opportunity falling into our lap that makes us a ton of money. Or maybe, we do nothing at all and a rich uncle we never knew leaves us his fortune! Wouldn’t that be amazing? However, the reality is very few people have rich uncles, let alone rich uncles who they didn’t know existed, and how many of those uncles end up leaving an unknown heir their fortune? If you are not waiting for a rich uncle, you may be on the lookout for a way to make yourself rich…and fast. Real estate is one avenue that is often touted as a get-rich-quick scheme.  I have done very well with real estate, but it did not happen overnight. How did I do it, and how long did it take? I will go over all of that!

What does it mean to get rich quick?

Unless you were born rich, I think all of us have dreamed or at least thought about getting rich quick. That dream may quickly fade away as reality hits you or someone tells you that your ideas are dumb or unrealistic. Some people keep that dream forever and constantly look for a way to get rich fast. So what does “get rich quick” mean?

I think the definition depends on who you are. When you look at wealthy, self-made people, the vast majority took years to get there—or even decades. It did not happen overnight. Some people seemingly get rich overnight with a new website or idea that takes off, but we don’t see the years of hard work and failures that occurred prior to that success.

The idea of getting rich quick also depends on what your definition of getting rich is. Is it a few hundred thousand dollars, or a few million, or a hundred million? We are all different in what we think rich is, and the more money you have, the bigger that number needs to be in most cases.

My definition of getting rich quick is making a few million dollars over a few years. I am not talking about making it big overnight or just making $100k. I have been pretty successful, and I see bank-robbery movies where the robbers hope to make a couple hundred thousand and I think, “Really? How long is that going to last?” Put that effort and planning into a business!

Can you get rich quick with real estate?

When looking for a way to get rich quick, real estate is often one of the avenues that is pursued. Real estate is often taught as a way to get rich by guys driving Lamborghinis with tons of women draped all over them. To be honest, I do have a Lambo, but I am happily married with three kids and do not have any bikini-clad women hanging out with me.

Real estate can create a lot of wealth, but it is not easy. It took me many years to build wealth and feel comfortable enough to buy a Lambo (1999 Diablo). There are many ways to get rich with real estate.

• House Flipping: Buy houses at a huge discount, fix them up, and sell them for a profit. I have done 201 flips as of the wiring of this article.
• Rental Properties: Buy properties (hopefully at a huge discount), fix them up, rent them, possibly refinance them to get your money back.
• Wholesaling: Finding great deals and selling the properties or assigning contracts to other investors.
• Agent/Broker: Helping buyers and selling conduct real estate transactions.

Some of these avenues to make it big are advertised as ways to get rich quick.

How much money can you make with real estate?

I have done very well with real estate and made myself a millionaire a few times over. But it did not happen overnight. I was an agent to begin with. I also flipped houses with my father to start and eventually invested in rental properties as well. I also know many very successful real estate entrepreneurs.

While I know many millionaires in real estate, I do not know any that made it big overnight. In a few years? Some, yes. Most of the successful real estate people I know took more than a few years to become millionaires and make it big.

I have also written articles about how to make it big with these varying business in real estate.

• Can you make a million dollars a year flipping houses?
• Can you make a million dollars a year as a real estate agent?
• How much money can you make with rental properties?
• How much money can you make wholesaling?

The final verdict?

I have made millions with real estate, but it took many years. It has taken most people many years who have made it big in real estate. If you really hit the business hard and go after things, you may be able to create a million dollars or more in a few years with real estate. I was able to create more than a million dollars with one deal, but that deal took a couple of years, and I had a ton of experience before I did it.

I think real estate has some amazing potential and can provide some amazing opportunities to build wealth. Is it a get-rich-quick business? Maybe—if “quick” is a few years. For some people that is quick, but for others, a few months is quick.

Real estate is a business that offers a lot of opportunities for those without a lot of money. It is possible to buy houses with little money down and slowly work your way into bigger and bigger deals. If you have some capital or a tremendous drive, you can make a lot of money fairly quickly.

I don’t like the term “get rich quick”, but if there was a business that allowed people to get rich fairly quickly, I think real estate is it.