what has worked for me is in all the different businesses I do, all that comes out of it, the profit, gets invested into real estate. banks and mutual funds offer 8% returns, however at least the way I invest I get about 100% return on my money every year for every dollar invested. I look for houses that are not for sale and negotiate with the owners and I usually buy houses for 1/5th to 1/3rd of what they are worth. Then I split them up and rent the rooms similar to like house hacking, but on a larger scale. I have managers collect the money and put it into the bank every week and so Im not that involved in it, its a long term investment. Then i refinance the house for what its worth and use the cash to buy more similar properties. I look at property as a good way to invest money that you have aquired, similar to a savings account, but the investment grows and you eventually can use the profit from your real estate rentals to buy more property, i.e. it runs by itself. For example, last year I paid $50k for a 6000sqft commercial building that was going to be torn down, I negotiated the price with the owner based on the vacant land value, and then after a construction permit was opened on it the building is no longer going to be torn down, then i refinanced it a year later for 400k which is what it was worth, and the rental income on this property alone is 15 bedrooms times 160/week or $9600/month, which paid back my initial investment in less than a year but i also got the refinance money...
