10 Common Traits of Real Estate Billionaires by Kelly

According to Forbes magazine's 2005 annual list of "The world's richest People"; the real estate investing billionaires have a lot of things in common. This can't be a coincidence. Let's look at some of those similarities.
For Sale by Owner
1. Go commercial. Residential properties seem to stay out of the interest in the billionaire's perspective. They usually go for office buildings, shopping centers and apartment buildings. This strategy seems very popular for the wealthiest man in American real estate, Donald Bren.
This billionaire made a lot of his money as chairman of The Irvine Company. This real estate investment company is famous for developing quality communities like the 93,000-acre Irvine Ranch in Orange County. Donald Bren is the 6th wealthiest real estate billionaire and the 122nd richest man in the world with a worth op approximately $4.3 billion.
2. Do more than invest. Most people buy property and then hope and pray that the property will appreciate in value. Improvements are very important. This can easily link into the term "flipping houses" which can result in astronomical capital gains.
3. See the property not for what it is, but what it could be. If you buy a office building, it doesn't mean that an office building is the best use of that property. It is very important to know the area, the market surrounding the area and future tendencies. It becomes very important to think outside the box to sniff out possibilities.
4. Be relentless & tenacious. Billionaires don't let obstacles or pitfalls keep them from achieving their goals. A lot of billionaires have gone bankrupt more than once. What makes them different is they used the failure as inspiration to do it better. The concept: "Failure is just another form of learning" comes to mind.
5. Have a thick skin. Other people can be resentful and jealous of successful people. Be strong against criticism, don't let it skew the path to your goals. The thing that I have found is that the people who are always skeptical or pessimistic are usually the ones that know very little about the subject. Next time people have a pessimistic view about real estate, just ask them how many properties they own.
6. Have superior information. The power of information lies not in what you know but in what you dont know and how quickly you can gain the knowledge of what you don't know. If you do more research than your competitor, you will have the upper hand in any deal.
Sell Your Home in 21 Days
7. Don't accept the cards you are dealt with. According to Forbes, two-thirds of billionaires who made their cash in real estate where self made. This means that they didn't inherit it or won a lottery. They used their heads and made thinks happen.
8. Live in California. U.S. billionaires who made their fortune in real estate, 7 out of the 21 lived in Atherton, Newport Beach, Stockton, Palo Alto or Illinois. That's one-third of them.
9. Get, & stay, married. Of the 43 real estate billionaires whose marital status is known, 37 are married, 5 divorced & 5 widowed. Makes me think of the quote: "behind every successful man is a more successful woman" and visa versa.
10. Get the education. 26 Real estate billionaires' education is known. Out of those, 20 have got at least a college degree, 3 have got high school diplomas, and 3 were high-school dropouts. This is not to say you can't get rich without a degree, but it should make you think.