Real estate investment guru Grant Cardone says Americans should “quit saving” if they want to build true wealth.
Cardone, a prolific real estate investor, recently shared his two cents on X, formerly Twitter: “That full-time job won’t bring you wealth. Saving, saving, saving won’t bring you wealth. Overspending won’t bring you wealth. Being scared won’t bring you wealth.”
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There’s only one thing that will help you build real wealth “beyond millions of dollars,” according to Cardone. Investing.
“Quit saving your money,” Cardone says in a video he tweeted over the summer. “That’s what my parents did. They saved money. They didn’t invest their money correctly. They didn’t take money [and] leverage it into real investments because they were terrified of losing their money.”
Cardone claims there are “asset classes out there where you can never lose your money” — like real estate — that generate cash flow and appreciate in value over time.
That advice comes as no surprise given that Cardone built a real estate empire — which he says contains almost 8,000 units of cash-flow-producing real estate, worth over $4 billion — from scratch.
That being said, it's important to take advice from such financial experts with a grain of salt, as Cardone has been the subject of litigation in recent years over allegations of misleading investors. He has denied the allegations, voicing his response in a LinkedIn post.
As with all personal finance advice, ultimately, what works best for you comes down to your personal needs and circ*mstances. But if you're hoping to emulate his success, here are three ways you can invest in real estate without needing heaps of cash to get started.
Real estate investment trusts
Investing in a real estate investment trust (REIT) is a way to profit from the real estate market without having to buy physical real estate or worry about landlord duties like screening tenants, fixing damages and chasing down late payments.
REITs are publicly traded companies that own income-producing real estate like apartment buildings, shopping centers and office towers. Essentially, they're giant landlords. To qualify as an REIT, a company must pay out at least 90% of its taxable income to shareholders as dividends each year, in addition to other requirements. In exchange, they pay little to no income tax at the corporate level.
Of course, not all REITs are created equal. In recent months, experts have raised concerns about the state of commercial real estate in the U.S. — especially office towers, which are struggling in the post-pandemic remote work era — but sectors like residential real estate seem to be pulling through.
Generally, REITs are described as high-return investments that provide solid dividends and the potential for moderate, long-term capital appreciation.
And as REITs are publicly traded, you can buy or sell shares at any time and your investment can be as little or as large as you want — unlike buying a house, which usually requires a hefty down payment followed by a mortgage.
Read more: Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now use $100 to cash in on prime real estate — without the headache of being a landlord. Here's how
Real estate ETFs
If you’re looking for an easy way to invest in real estate without having to pick and choose which stocks to buy and sell, consider exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Think of an ETF as a diversified portfolio of stocks.
As the name suggests, ETFs trade on major exchanges, making them convenient to buy and sell. Some ETFs passively track an index, while others are actively managed. They all charge a fee — referred to as the management expense ratio — in exchange for managing the fund.
The Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:VNQ) , for example, provides investors with broad exposure to U.S. REITs. The fund held 160 stocks as of Sept. 30, with total net assets worth $56.5 billion. Over the past 10 years, VNQ’s net asset value (NAV) has grown 5.50%. Its management expense ratio is 0.12%.
You can also check out the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLRE), which aims to replicate the real estate sector of the S&P 500 Index. It had 31 holdings and an expense ratio of 0.10%. Since the fund’s inception in October 2015, XLRE’s NAV has grown 6.64%.
Both of these ETFs pay quarterly distributions.
Crowdfunding platforms
The crowdfunding process — which was championed by Cardone — allows everyday investors to pool their money to purchase property (or a share of property) as a group.
Through a crowdfunding platform, you can buy a percentage of physical real estate, including rental properties to commercial properties. You can even buy a stake in digital real estate.
Some options are targeted at accredited investors, sometimes with higher minimum investments that can reach tens of thousands of dollars.
If you're not an accredited investor, many platforms let you invest small sums, even as low as $100.
Such platforms make real estate investing more accessible to the general public by simplifying the process and lowering the barrier to entry.
Sponsors of crowdfunded real estate deals usually charge fees to investors — typically in the range of 0.5% to 2.5% of whatever you’ve invested.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
