Greenbook: A Local Guide to Chesapeake Living - Issue 3 | Page 65

5

Self-Made
Real Estate Millionaires
By Octavio Nuiry, Senior Staff Writer, RealtyTrac

Editors’ note: Do real estate
millionaires share a certain DNA?
Is there something they all possess
that makes them successful? To
uncover this mystery, Foreclosure
New Report interviewed five real
estate millionaires in different parts
of the county, who have dissimilar
strategies to build wealth, to discover
the “secret sauce” that makes them
wealthy. What we found may surprise
you.
When someone says real estate
“millionaire,” what image comes to
mind? For many, it’s Donald Trump,
the scrappy New York investor who
got rich betting on large apartment
complexes and hotels in Manhattan.
For others, it’s Barbara Corcoran,
the powerhouse Manhattan real
estate broker who started her firm,
the Corcoran Group, in 1973 with a
$1,000 loan and seven agents and
sold it 28 years later to Cendant
Corporation for $70 million.
But you probably wouldn’t recognize
many modern real estate millionaires
today.
They live in middle-class
neighborhoods, work long hours and
shop at discount stores just like the
rest of us. They have a strong sense
of individualism, work hard, save
their money — and have a burning
desire to accumulate wealth. They
share other similar characteristics
too. Most are focused on one goal.
Many dress modestly, live within
their means, drive used cars, and
have little or no personal debt.

They’ve got the money to buy
mansions — but they live in
modest homes. They can buy fancy
new foreign imports — but prefer to
drive older American models. They
take extraordinary risks in their
professional lives, but take few risks
in their personal lives.

Net worth: $11-20 million
Drives: 2006 Dodge Ram truck
Owns: 150 rentals
Goal: 200 rentals

Here’s a few other traits millionaire
real estate investors share: many real
estate millionaires like to write books,
teach others about real estate
investing and talk about their success
at seminars and conferences. That’s
why many of the more successful
investors are authors, host seminars
on investing or engage in public
speaking on how to make money
investing in real estate. For many,
education is critical. So, these
millionaires are always learning
something new. Real estate
millionaires tend to be lifetime
learners, who are always looking for
ways to improve themselves, their
services and the products they sell.
They are constantly acquiring
knowledge and skills so they can
make more money, and help others
make more money too.

Tony Alvarez is an unusual real estate
millionaire. He talks a